After carefully analyzing many interesting experimental phenomena observed with low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) in a series of recent studies on early stages of the formation of many metal-silicon interfaces (Ta/Si, V/Si, Ni/Si, Pd/Si, Pt/Si, Ag/Si, Al/Si), we conclude that all these interfaces, which are defined here as being directly connected to the silicon, have a unique atomic structure—common interfacial phase, and that this structure produces only kinematic LEED intensity spectra.

• Received 10 September 1985

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.33.919