Uniform Ag thin film growth on an Sb-terminated Si(111) surface

We report on the room-temperature-growth of highly uniform and ultrathin Ag films on Sb-terminated Si(111) surfaces, as evidenced from a scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) study in an UHV system. With predeposition of one monolayer (ML) of Sb, uniform growth of Ag islands was observed at room temperature. The Sb layer suppresses the surface diffusion of Ag atoms on Si surface and increases the Ag island density, and then the increased island density is believed to cause coalescence of Ag islands before the beginning of multilayer growth in higher coverages, resulting in the growth of atomically flat and uniform islands on the Sb surfactant layer.