Structure and peculiarities of the $(8\times n)$-type Si(001) surface prepared in a molecular beam epitaxy chamber: a scanning tunnelling microscopy study

A clean Si(001) surface thermally purified in the ultra-high-vacuum molecular beam epitaxy chamber has been investigated by means of the scanning tunnelling microscopy. Morphological peculiarities of the Si(001) surface have been explored in detail. A classification of surface structure elements has been carried out, the dimensions of the elements have been measured, and relative heights of the surface relief have been determined. A reconstruction of the Si(001) surface prepared in the molecular beam epitaxy chamber has been found to be $(8\times n)$. A model of the Si$(001)-(8\times n)$ surface structure is proposed.