EM, XPS and LEED study of deposition of Ag on hydrogenated Si substrate prepared by wet chemical treatments

The deposition of Ag on a hydrogenated Si(111) substrate, prepared by wet chemical treatment, was carried out at room temperature (RT), 250°C and above 350°C. The samples were examined in situ by LEED, XPS and then by SEM and TEM. Our results show that flat Ag crystallite domains are growing on the HSi(111) surface at all three substrate temperatures. The 〈hw〉 ratio of the islands increases but the density decreases with increasing substrate temperature which is attributed to the differences between hydrogenated and clean Si(111) surface. The so-called A-type and B-type domains resulting from analyses of TOF ICISS are attributed to twinning in the deposited layer.