Structure and dynamics of gold atomic chains grown on Cu(110): Experiment and theory

Abstract

Gold deposition on Cu(110) results in nucleation and growth of periodic, triple-stranded chains of Au atoms parallel to ⟨100⟩. These structures have unusual properties that differ substantially for other nominally similar systems. The chains, initially zig-zag, nucleate and grow at the lowest coverages, exhibit lateral mobility, straighten up as coverage increases, are robust against intermixing with the substrate, and maintain registry across step edges. Molecular dynamics simulations and electronic structure calculations provide good insight into all these properties, including details of the growth mode. It appears that gold chain packing density is limited mainly by strain in the underlying copper, rather than chain-chain interactions.