The objective of the investigation is to systematically study the structure of surfaces of semiconductor materials. The program will emphasize impact collision ion scattering spectroscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy, and first principles pseudopotential total energy theoretical calculations. Impact collision ion scattering spectroscopy identifies the atomic species on the surface and provides structural information on the crystallographic unit cell of the surface atoms. The scanning tunneling microscopy provides an image of the surface on a localized atomic scale in three-dimensional scale. Total energy calculations give detailed information pertaining to the equilibrium atomic and electronic structures. The research is relevant to the surface of semiconducting materials used in integrated electronics, especially to the important topic of metallization.
