Structural investigation of germanium nanoribbons network on Al(110)

The formation of one dimensional (1D) semiconductors offers exciting potential for the development of nanoscale devices. Germanium (Ge) nanoribbons can be formed on metallic substrates with specific structural and electronic properties. In this study, we investigate the structure of Ge nanoribbons grown on an Al(110) substrate by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). We used low energy electron diffraction (LEED), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations techniques. We show the successful formation of an ordered network of single-width Ge-based nanoribbons, with a (10 × a[-110]) periodicity along the [-110] direction of the Al(110) crystal surface. Individual Ge nanoribbons structure is determined via an energetic theoretical study based on Ge chemical potential, and a comparison of calculated and experimental images to validate a stacked dimers model.