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Structural phase transition at a finite thickness of cerium overlayers on Si(111)

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Published 4 April 2008 Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd
, , Citation Hangil Lee et al 2008 New J. Phys. 10 043008 DOI 10.1088/1367-2630/10/4/043008

1367-2630/10/4/043008

Abstract

We found that Ce on the Si(111) system exhibited nonmetallic behavior at a critical coverage of 4.0 ML. We observed a large binding energy shift of 2.5 eV in x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and a band gap of 0.6 eV in scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS), whereas normal metallic behavior was observed at other coverages. Moreover, a strong downward surface relaxation was observed at this critical coverage with increased surface roughness. We expect that this phase transition at a critical coverage is due to the breakdown of bulk modulus as a result of the release of tensile stress along the in-plane direction.

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10.1088/1367-2630/10/4/043008