Intermixing of intrabasin and interbasin diffusion of a single Ag atom on Si(111)-(7 x 7).
Using scanning tunneling microscopy, we studied the diffusion of single Ag atoms within the Si(111)-(7 x 7) unit cell. A striking difference was observed in the time-dependent tunneling current spectra for Ag atoms moving in the unfaulted and faulted half unit cells, with a dual-time characteristic in the former but a single time in the latter. Our observations demonstrate the importance of the stacking fault in affecting the interaction between Ag atoms and the Si(111)-(7 x 7) surface and can be understood in terms of an asymmetric interplay between intrabasin and interbasin diffusion.
Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territory, Hong Kong, China. kdwang@phy.cuhk.edu.hk
Kedong
K
Wang
Gang
G
Chen
Chun
C
Zhang
M M T
MM
Loy
Xudong
X
Xiao