Dynamics of the 7 x 7 DAS-reconstructed Silicon (111) Surface

Abstract

We studied the dynamics of the reconstructed Si (111) surface using a total-energy-vibrational-spectrum approach based on a non-orthogonal tight-binding Hamiltonian. We first established the size of the supercell sufficient to yield a reliable determination of surface parameters by the structural optimization. The site density of vibrational states (SDOS) for the semi-infinite system (the optimized slab on top of the bulk) was then calculated using the method of real space Green's function. A decomposition scheme for the SDOS that identifies directly coupled vibrations for a given mode was also proposed. Our study has uncovered and elucidated, for the first time, all the important surface dynamical features associated with the dimers, adatoms, stacking faults, and rest atoms.