Inelastic Scattering Components in the Si(111)-(7×7) RHEED Pattern by the Energy Filtering Method

Energy loss spectra for several parts of the Si(111)-(7 × 7) RHEED pattern, the (0 0) specular spot, the (3/7 3/7) superspot in the zeroth Laue zone, the (0 1) fundamental spot in the first Laue zone, and the Kikuchi line and background have been measured by the recently developed retarding type energy filter in the condition of the$[11\bar{2}]$azimuth with a 10 kV incident electron beam. It was found that there are some differences in their spectra. Energy loss spectra of the (0 0) and (3/7 3/7) spots show surface plasmon loss peaks of silicon dominantly, and the spectrum of the (0 1) spot shows the same but includes weak bulk plasmon peaks. The spectrum of the Kikuchi line mainly shows bulk plasmon peaks and that of the background has no distinct structure in the profile. Glancing angle dependences of their profiles were also measured and discussed. The experimental data show that there is a relation between the quasielastic component of the diffraction beam and the pass length of the electron beam in a vacuum region near the surface where the electron interacts with the surface plasmon. The quasielastic component of the diffraction beam decreases as the incident glancing angle and/or takeoff angle become grazing.