Real-time high-resolution transmission electron microscopy observation of the growth process of (0 0 1) surfaces on a nanometer-sized Si multiply twinned particle

A nanometer-sized Si multiply twinned particle (MTP) was fabricated by electron-induced SiO2-decomposition technique inside an ultrahigh vacuum electron microscope. Structure and growth kinetics of the (0 0 1) surface on the MTP were observed by profile imaging high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Real-time HRTEM observation indicated that the (0 0 1) surfaces were covered with single domain of 1×2 reconstruction and that a new top-layer formation was accompanied by the break of dimer structure of its subsurface. It was also found that the layer growth on the (0 0 1) surfaces showed an unusual behavior, due to a strain field caused by elastic deformation of the MTP.