Effect of STM on surface diffusion of antimony (Sb) dimers on Si(100)
Abstract
The effect of STM on surface diffusion barrier of Antimony (Sb) dimers on Si (100) was computationally investigated using kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC). The effect of STM tip is simulated using temperatures ranging from 400K to 450K in which STM-induced hopping is more prominent than thermally activated hopping. In this study, simulation results showed a decreasing trend in the surface diffusion barrier when ΔE between the tip and the site directly underneath it is increased. Additionally, it was observed that at lower temperature (400K) STM-tip induced hopping is more prominent than at higher temperature (500K); this is because at higher temperature, there exists a competition between STM-tip induced hopping and thermally-activated hopping of Sb dimers on Si(100). Lastly, it was found out that the scan rate of STM tip affects the behavior of Sb dimer hopping for both parallel and perpendicular to the Si dimer growth.