Phase formation sequence and domain structure : a low-energy-electron-microscopy study of the Si(111)-(√3×√3) Ag surface

Changes in nucleation and phase formation sequence with temperature may strongly affect the morphology of the final phase. The Si(111)-(√3×√3)Ag structure develops directly from the clean (7×7) structure at lower temperatures (500-700 K). Preferred nucleation at step edges and (7×7) domain boundaries reduces the effective dimensionality of the substrate and explains anomalies in domain size scaling observed by Zuo and Wendelken