Faceting and surface reconstruction of the GaP(111)B surface

In English Using Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED) and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) we have investigated the structure of the GaP(111)B surface. We have previously studied the formation of Ga droplets on GaP(111)B above the maximum temperature for congruent evaporation. In the present work, we investigate the nanometer-sized pyramid-shaped crystallites that are found on the GaP(111)B surface and that were only briefly mentioned in our previous paper. We suggest that the pyramids have {-1-10} side facets. We also find that the size of the pyramids decrease upon annealing. Finally, we present a model for the atomic scale structure of the flat GaP(111)B surface found between the pyramids. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.