  We perform ab initio plane wave supercell density functional calculations on
three candidate models of the (3 x 2) reconstruction of the beta-SiC(001)
surface. We find that the two-adlayer asymmetric-dimer model (TAADM) is
unambiguously favored for all reasonable values of Si chemical potential. We
then use structures derived from the TAADM parent to model the silicon lines
that are observed when the (3 x 2) reconstruction is annealed (the (n x 2)
series of reconstructions), using a tight-binding method. We find that as we
increase n, and so separate the lines, a structural transition occurs in which
the top addimer of the line flattens. We also find that associated with the
separation of the lines is a large decrease in the HOMO-LUMO gap, and that the
HOMO state becomes quasi-one-dimensional. These properties are qualititatively
and quantitatively different from the electronic properties of the original (3
x 2) reconstruction.
