| Theory predicts that macroscopic properties of one-dimensional (1D) systems are strongly influenced by the reduced degrees of freedom of electrons and atoms that make up the systems, leading to various exotic physical phenomena. As an added bonus, the modeling becomes more explicit and obtaining an exact solution is often quite possible. However, the experimental realization of a 1D system for studying inter-atomic or inter-molecular correlations is quite difficult and rare. This work demonstrates how 1D atomic chains can be produced by self-assembly using stepped silicon surfaces as nanometer-scale templates.; In this thesis, regular arrays of steps are obtained at vicinal Si(111) surfaces depending on the orientation and angle of the miscut. Adsorption of sub-monolayer amounts of Gd or Au atoms on Si(111) surfaces induces 1D surface reconstructions, such as Si(111)5 × 2-Gd, Si(557)-Au, and Si(111)5 × 2-Au. Details of their atomic structure are studied by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM).; The Si(111)5 × 2-Au atomic chain structure exhibits a one-dimensional lattice fluid of Si adatoms that reside on top of the chains. The correlation function of the Si adatoms is determined from an extensive set of STM data covering over 4500 atoms. To determine the strength of the adatom-adatom interactions the experimental correlation function is compared to the theoretical ones obtained from six model Hamiltonians. The best description of the experimental data is obtained from a model that combines strong nearest-neighbor intea-chain repulsion with a long-range oscillatory interaction, which might arise from an incipient charge density wave. The inter-chain interactions are more than 10 times weaker than the intea-chain ones, demonstrating the 1D character of the system.; In addition to exhibiting the exotic 1D lattice fluid, the Si(111)5 × 2-Au surface is examined as a potential atomic scale memory structure that stores a bit by the presence or absence of one Si atom. The results of the correlation analysis help explain the limits of the data storage density due to interactions between adjacent bits. |
