Structure and electronic properties of dysprosium-silicide nanowires on vicinal Si(001)

Dysprosium-silicide nanowires with widths of 15–100 A and lengths exceeding several 1000 A can be formed on Si(001) by self-assembly. Because of the anisotropy of the Si(001) surface, these nanowires grow in two orthogonal directions. In this study we demonstrate that growth on vicinal substrates results in a perfect unidirectional alignment of the wires. This allows an investigation by angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy showing anisotropic metallicity of the nanowires.