Abstract
Three-dimensional relaxation of small crystallites was imaged in real time using variable-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. The micron-sized Pb crystallites, supported on Ru(0001), were equilibrated at 500--550 K, and the volume-preserving shape relaxation was induced by a rapid temperature decrease to 353--423 K. The (111) facet at the top of the crystallite grows by sequential peeling of single atomic layers, which shrink like circular islands. The rate of layer peeling slows dramatically as a new final state is reached.
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