Diffraction from small antiphase domains: α-View the MathML source, β-View the MathML source, 6×6 phases of Au adsorbed Si(111)

Correlation between domain-wall configurations and electron diffraction patterns of the Au-adsorbed Si(111) surface was studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), reflection-high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED), and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) as a function of Au coverage. Streaks and rings around superreflections in α-View the MathML source (LEED) patterns reflect the zigzagging feature and average size of the small View the MathML source domains. These fine structures become diffuser and then convert to the β-View the MathML source pattern in a continuous way with the increase of Au coverage. This evolution in the diffraction pattern is explained in terms of domain size contraction to a minimum size equivalent to six times of the substrate unit mesh. These smallest domains with dense antiphase domain walls in the β-View the MathML source phase transform to the 6×6 phase by annealing around 600 K, where the smallest domains arrange in a long-range order. This structure transformation may be expressed as `recrystallizationʹ in the arrangement of small antiphase View the MathML source domains.