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Submonolayer Bi and Au adsorptions on the GaAs(001)-2 × 4 surface are investigated by scanning tunnelling microscopy, low energy electron diffraction and first-principles calculations. The 1 × 4 and 3 × 4 reconstructed surface induced by Bi and Au, respectively, are revealed and their structural models are proposed based on experiments and first-principles calculations. Moreover, the validity of the recently proposed generalized electron counting (GEC) model [Phys. Rev. Lett. 97 (2006) 126103] is examined in detail by using the two surfaces. The GEC model perfectly explains the structural features, such as the characteristic short double-line structure in the Bi-1 × 4 surface and the 3× arrangement of four-atom Au clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morphologies of Cu(111) films on Si(111)-7×7 surfaces prepared at low temperature are investigated by scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED). At the initial growth stage, Cu films are flat due to the formation of silicide at the interface that decreases the mismatch between Cu films and the Si substrate. Different from the usual multilayer growth of Cu/Cu(111), on the silicide layer a layer-by-layer growth is observed. The two dimensional (2D) growth is explained by the enhanced high island density at low deposition temperature. Increasing deposition rate produces films with different morphologies, which is the result of Ostwald ripening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]