摘要

Selection of templates is important for the study of nanodevice fabrication. In the present study, we show that a wide, flat, and ultrastable Si(3 3 7)-4 x 1 terrace, combined with the Si(1 1 3)-4 x 2 facet, is converted from the Si(5 5 12)-2 x 1 surface through accumulated annealing at an elevated temperature. Scanning tunneling microscopy reveals that, in this irreversible surface structural phase transition, the surface has been gradually changed in two steps, step-roughening and atomic diffusion along a one-dimensional row. This (3 3 7)-4 x 1 surface is expected to be a good template for the growth of one- or two-dimensional nanostructures.