STM and RHEED experiments on non-equilibrium surface structures of the Au(110) surface

Abstract

The Au(110) surface is studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED). The surface is rapidly cooled from above the order-disorder transition temperature of Tc = 650 K to room temperature. The STM reveals some details of the disordered state, i.e. a preference of 〈110〉 chains of varying lengths as the most obvious short range structural elements. The first long range order structural features are (1 × 3) rather than (1 × 2) islands. The (1 × 2) structure needs some energy input to be formed. The RHEED analysis is done while the target is heated in the range from room temperature to above Tc. The RHEED experiments give information about the disordered state, as well as the annealing and the order-disorder phase transition.