STM investigation of as-cleaved and annealed single crystalline GeTe (111) surface

Despite the growing interest in GeTe as a archetypal displacive ferroelectric material as well as the basis of related materials used in data-storage applications, atom-resolved study of single crystalline GeTe surface been lacking. Using low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS), we investigated as-cleaved and annealed surfaces of GeTe. We found that as-cleaved GeTe(111) surface is composed of at least two kinds of terraces at 78 K. While two terraces show metallic characteristics, they also exhibit distinctive I-V spectra and imaging conditions, with each being attributed to Ge-terminated, and Te-terminated surfaces respectively. GeTe(111) surfaces annealed at moderately elevated temperature introduces intricate networks of extended defect structures. We will present these data and discuss the role of vacancies in the formation of these structures.