Interplay between adsorbed C60 fullerenes and point defects on a Si(111) 3 × 3 -In reconstructed surface

Abstract Adsorption of C 60 onto Si(111) 3 × 3 –In surface presents a fascinating example of interplay between molecular adsorbate and surface structural defects. It has been found that adsorbing C 60 molecules are trapped by the substitutional Si-defects. In turn, the group of a few adsorbed C 60 can act as a trap for the mobile vacancies of the 3 × 3 –In reconstruction. Namely, adsorbed C 60 induces a strain in the indium layer, and when a mobile vacancy happens to get into the surface area surrounded by fullerenes, the In atoms between the C 60 and the vacancy shift from the T 4 to the H 3 sites, fixing a vacancy in a given location.