The NW width is thus broadened from 2.2 to 5.3 nm, which can be explained by the relaxation of the surface stress on the upper Si terrace upon Ce Volasertib adsorption [37]. The stress relaxation also causes the pitch between the adjacent NWs to be increased from 5.0 to C646 supplier 7.6 nm, while after 3-ML deposition, the pitch is reduced to 6.3 nm due to the balance between the elastic energy in the terraces and the formation energy of 6-NWs. The apparent height of CeSi x NW in the

empty-state images is firstly decreased with the increase of Ce coverage and subsequently is increased due to the development of the second silicide layer on NWs. The gradual decrease of the NW height may be attributed to an inward vertical relaxation of Ce atoms upon additional Ce adsorption. The lengths of different CeSi x NWs can exceed 1 μm, depending on the domain area of the 16 × 2 reconstruction. Figure 7 displays the schematic drawing to illustrate the growth evolution of the parallel CeSi x NW arrays on Si(110)-16 × 2 surfaces with increasing Ce coverages. Additionally, the dual-polarity STM images clearly reveal that interchain coupling results in the formation Selleckchem Fer-1 of different registry-aligned chain bundles at the various growth stages of CeSi x NWs. Thus, we have shown that the NW width and the interchain coupling can

be adjusted systematically by varying the Ce coverage on Si(110). Figure 6 The average dimensions of parallel CeSi x NWs as functions of Ce coverage. Figure 7 Schematics of the growth evolution of parallel CeSi x NW arrays on Si(110)-16 × 2 surfaces. (a) Si(110)-16 × 2 surface. (b, c, d) Parallel arrays of GBA3 3-NW, 6-NW, and 9-NW. The upper and lower terraces on the Si(110) surface are labeled by UT and LT. The left and right zigzag chains in the 6-NWs and 9-NWs are labeled by LZ and

RZ. The linear rows at the middle of the 9-NWs are labeled by MR. Prospects The ability to grow mesoscopically ordered CeSi x NW arrays on Si(110)-16 × 2 templates with atomic precision demonstrates that this template-directed 1D self-organization based on the single-domain Si(110)-16 × 2 surface can allow us to control accurately the growth and the electronic properties of individual NWs on an industrially reliable scale. Moreover, the massively parallel arrays of periodic and atomically identical CeSi x NWs can provide an opportunity to understand precisely the exotic 1D physics of electrons in CeSi x NWs by photoemission and photoabsorption spectroscopy study. Additionally, the high quality of these periodic arrays together with their easy fabrication render such supergratings as ideal nanotemplates for directing further deposition of functional units.