In this Letter, we explore the potential energy surface (PES) of the 3 × 3 C-face of SiC by means of the density functional theory. Following an extensive and intuitive exploration, we propose a model for this surface reconstruction based on an all-silicon over-layer forming an ordered honeycomb-Kagome network. This model is compared to the available scanning tunneling microscope (STM) topographies and conductance maps. Our STM simulations reproduce the three main characteristics observed in the measurements, revealing the underlying complex and hybrid passivation scheme. Indeed, below the ordered over-layer, the competition between two incompatible properties of silicon induces a strong disorder in the charge transfer between unpassivated dangling bonds of different chemistry. This effect in conjunction with the glassy-like character of the PES explains why it has taken decades to provide an accurate atomistic representation for this structure.
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6 April 2020
Research Article|
April 09 2020
Order and disorder at the C-face of SiC: A hybrid surface reconstruction
Eduardo Machado-Charry
;
Eduardo Machado-Charry
1
Institute of Solid State Physics and NAWI Graz, Graz University of Technology
, Petersgasse 16, 8010 Graz, Austria
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César González
;
César González
2
Departamento de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada and Condensed Matter Physics Center, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
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Yannick J. Dappe
;
Yannick J. Dappe
3
SPEC, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, CEA
Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
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Laurence Magaud
;
Laurence Magaud
4
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS
, Institut Neel, F-38042 Grenoble, France
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Normand Mousseau
;
Normand Mousseau
5
Département de physique and RQMP, Université de Montréal, Case Postale 6128, Succursale Centre-ville
, Montréal, Québec H3C 3J7, Canada
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Pascal Pochet
Pascal Pochet
a)
6
Department of Physics, IriG, Univ. Grenoble Alpes and CEA
, F-38000 Grenoble, France
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: pascal.pochet@cea.fr
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: pascal.pochet@cea.fr
Appl. Phys. Lett. 116, 141605 (2020)
Article history
Received:
December 18 2019
Accepted:
March 23 2020
Citation
Eduardo Machado-Charry, César González, Yannick J. Dappe, Laurence Magaud, Normand Mousseau, Pascal Pochet; Order and disorder at the C-face of SiC: A hybrid surface reconstruction. Appl. Phys. Lett. 6 April 2020; 116 (14): 141605. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5143010
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