Growth of Sn on Mo(110) studied by AES and STM

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) have been used to investigate the growth behavior of ultra-thin Sn films on a Mo(110) surface at room temperature. An analysis of STM and AES measurements indicates that layer-by-layer growth (Frank-van der Merwe mode) for the first two layers of Sn is observed. For submonolayer coverage, tin prefers to nucleate randomly and creates one atom high islands on Mo terraces. In the completed first and second layer, no ordered regions were observed. As the sample is post-annealed to 800 K, the rearrangement of an existing film suggests a Sn–Mo surface alloy formation.