STM Images Apparently Corresponding to a Stable Structure: Considerable Fluctuation of a Phase Boundary of the Si(111)-( (3) × (3))-Ag Surface
Abstract
We study scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images near a phase boundary of the Si(111)- ((3)×(3))-Ag surface by using Monte Carlo simulations based on results of first-principles calculations. The boundary is found to fluctuate from snapshot to snapshot, and the feature of the simulated STM images differs distinctly from the observed one with a straightly extending honeycomb pattern of bright spots. Remarkably, statistical averages of the simulated images reproduce the observed feature. This study gives a warning of our tendency to relate STM images revealing clear arrangement of bright spots with some stable structure.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review Letters
- Pub Date:
- October 2001
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.156102
- Bibcode:
- 2001PhRvL..87o6102N