Surface reconstructions of MnAs grown on GaAs(001)

During epitaxial growth of MnAs on GaAs(001) by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) the surface exhibits various reconstructions depending on the growth conditions. These reconstructions have been studied during growth by reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and reflectance difference spectroscopy (RDS). A feature sensitive to the surface structure was identified in the RD spectra. After growth, the (1×2) and (1×1) reconstructions were cooled down to room temperature and imaged in ultrahigh vacuum with a conventional scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Atomic-scale images of these surfaces are presented.