HRLEED study of the roughening transitions in Cu(110), Ni(110) and Ag(110) surfaces

Abstract

The authors present the results of High Resolution Low Energy Electron Diffraction (HRLEED) measurements of the thermal roughening transition on Cu(110), Ag(110) and Ni(110) surfaces. They performed careful spot profile intensity measurements as a function of temperature. They observed a proliferation of steps along the (110) and (001) directions. In addition a strong deviation from a Debye model was observed in the scattered intensity of the Bragg reflections. This deviation from the harmonic approximation occurs well below the roughening transition temperature. The behavior of the three metal surfaces is qualitatively similar except for the transition temperatures. Ni shows the highest transition temperature (1,300 K), Cu is intermediate (1,000 K) and Ag has the lowest temperature (730 K). Analyzing the behavior of the (00) reflection intensity, and the evolution of the line shape as a function of the temperature, they found clear evidence of a roughening transition at the (110) surface. A lineshape analysis of the (00) reflection shows the transition from a Lorentzian lineshape to a power law. They also proved, based on the experimental data and a recent theoretical model, that there is a tremendous increase in step density and a decrease in the average terrace size as the temperature increases. They used STM to corroborate the HRLEED results at room temperature. They found excellent agreement.