The Na-adsorbed Ge(0 0 1) surface: Structure and STM image simulations

Sodium adsorbed on the Ge(0 0 1) surface causes reconstruction of the surface with the type of reconstruction depending on the amount of the adsorbate. We present theoretical investigations of the structure and electronic properties of Na-adsorbed Ge(0 0 1) for the coverage of 0.5 monolayer using the combination of two methods: a plane-wave basis method and a local-orbital minimal-basis method. Two possible minimum-total-energy atomic configurations have been found, namely, the Na/Ge(0 0 1)-p(2 image1) and Na/Ge(0 0 1)-p(4 image 1) reconstructions. The surface electronic structure for all calculated configurations occurs to be metallic. Our investigations are completed by a simulation of STM images for the obtained atomic structures.