Chlorine insertion and manipulation on the Si(100)-2x1-Cl surface in the regime of local supersaturation

Abstract

We insert and manipulate a single chlorine atom in chlorine monolayer on a Si(100)-2x1 surface using a scanning tunneling microscope. Two objects were created - a Cl atom in a groove between two dimer rows, and bridge-bonded Cl on a silicon dimer. Changing the voltage polarity leads to conversion of the objects into each other. Anisotropic movement of the objects at 77 K is mediated by two different diffusion mechanisms: hopping and crowdion-like motion. Insertion of a Cl atom in a groove between two dimer rows leads to the formation of a dangling bond on a third-layer Si atom. At positive sample voltage bias, the first object is positively charged, while the second object can be neutral or negatively charged depending on silicon sample doping.