Observation of B segregation on Si(1 1 3) by scanning tunneling microscopy

We implanted B atoms in Si(1 1 3) and annealed the samples to make B segregate to the surface. A series of Si(1 1 3)-3×1:B surfaces with different B-induced features have been observed by scanning tunneling microscopy. It is demonstrated that on a Si(1 1 3) surface B is favorable to be self-interstitials underneath a type of surface reconstructing blocks called pentamers and such pentamers can be boronized with different numbers of B atoms and therefore appear at different levels of electronic states.