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Driving forces for Ag-induced periodic faceting of vicinal Cu(111)

A. R. Bachmann·A. Mugarza·S. Speller·J. E. Ortega
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Abstract

Adsorption of submonolayer amounts of Ag on vicinal Cu(111) induces periodic faceting. The equilibrium structure is characterized by Ag-covered facets that alternate with clean Cu stripes. In the atomic scale, the driving force is the matching of Ag(111)-like packed rows with Cu(111) terraces underneath. This determines the preference for the facet orientation and the evolution of different phases as a function of coverage. Both Cu and Ag stripe widths can be varied smoothly in the 3-30 nm range by tuning Ag coverage, allowing to test theoretical predictions of elastic theories.

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A. R. Bachmann, A. Mugarza, S. Speller, J. E. Ortega. 2002-10-02. Driving forces for Ag-induced periodic faceting of vicinal Cu(111). https://doi.org/10.1016/s0039-6028(02)02574-8

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