Reconstruction of the Pt 50Ni 50(100) surface: a LEED and STM study

Abstract

The structure of the Pt 50Ni 50(100) surface was investigated by low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and scanning tunnelling spectroscopy (STM). Superstructures corresponding to 12 × 1 and 19 × 1 reconstructions were observed in the LEED pattern, and these reconstructions were identified with atomic resolution by STM. The reconstructed surface layer has a quasi-hexagonal atomic mesh with almost (111) atomic density and is divided into terraces and domains the size of which can be more than a thousand ångströms. The domains are corrugated with protrusions made up by 5 × 1 subunits of the quasi-hexagonal mesh and with valleys containing depressed atoms or 2 × 1 subunits. The 12 × 1 and 19 × 1 periodicities are determined by the sequence of valleys; depending on the thermal treatment, one or the other dominates but both generally coexist on the terrace. Owing to the complexity of the structure, LEED calculations were performed for a simplified model with surface atoms situated in a planar net and uniform quasi-hexagonal meshes. We find that in both reconstructions the two surface layers are significantly enriched with platinum. The top layer enrichment is consistent with previous Auger measurements.