The principal reconstructions found on the low-index planes of GaAs and ZnSe can be explained in terms of a simple electron counting model. A surface structure satisfies this model if it is possible to have all the dangling bonds on the electropositive element (Ga or Zn) empty and the dangling bonds on the electronegative element (As or Se) full, given the number of available electrons. This condition will necessarily result in there being no net surface charge. The justification for this model is discussed. The GaAs(001)-(2×4) reconstruction is known to involve surface dimers. It is shown that a (2×4) unit cell with three dimers and one dimer vacancy is the smallest unit cell that satisfies the electron counting model for this surface. The electron counting model is used to explain the structure of islands imaged by scanning tunneling microscopy on the GaAs(001)-(2×4) surface. The model shows that island structures built up from complete (2×4) unit cells can be stable if they extend in the 2× direction, but not if they extend in the 4× direction. These island structures can also provide an explanation for the different step structures seen on GaAs(001) vicinal surfaces. Much less is known experimentally about step and island structures on ZnSe(001). Structures on this surface predicted by the electron counting model differ significantly from those found on GaAs(001).

• Received 13 June 1989

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.40.10481