Resonant ionization plus Auger neutralization in the study of the electronic structure of clean semiconductor surfaces

Metastable atom de-excitation spectroscopy results on the surfaces of clean semiconductors are shown. De-excitation occurs through resonant ionization followed by Auger neutralization. After a review of the results obtained on the clean surface of GaAs(110) at room temperature, the evolution of the Ge(111) effective surface density of states (SDOS) as a function of temperature is discussed on the basis of the temperature-induced surface structure transitions reported in literature by different authors. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.