Step-step interaction on vicinal Si(001) surfaces studied by scanning tunneling microscopy

We report on measurements of step-step interaction on a flat Si (111) - (7×7) surface and on vicinal Si(001) surfaces with miscut angles ranging between 0.2 and 8°. Starting from scanning tunneling microscopy images of these surfaces and describing steps profile and interactions by the continuum step model, we measured the self-correlation function of single steps and the distribution of terrace widths. Empirical parameters, such as step stiffness and step-step interaction strength, were evaluated from the images. The present experiment allows to assess the dependence of the step-step repulsion on miscut angle, showing how parameters drawn from tunneling images can be used to interpolate between continuum mesoscopic models and atomistic calculations of vicinal surfaces. © 2009 The American Physical Society.