The temperature effects on the cluster formation of column III and noble metals on GaAs(110) surfaces have been studied using surface sensitive photoelectron spectroscopy. At room temperature, these metal atoms tend to form three-dimensional islands, whereas at 80 K low temperature, a Stranski–Krastanov growth mode appears because of slow surface mobility. A simple model is established to estimate the cluster size and cluster distribution density. The electronic structures of the metal clusters have been simultaneously studied and correlated with the cluster size. This study shows the evolution from isolated atoms to bulk materials. The criteria of the establishment of the overlayer metallicity are discussed.
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Cao et al. (1989) studied this question.