Surface Crystal Structure of Magnetite Fe3O4(110)

Abstract

The surface crystal structure of magnetite Fe3O4(110) was studied by low-energy electron diffraction (LEED). A clean surface was obtained after sputtering and annealing at 840 K. The clear LEED patterns show fractional order spots corresponding to a (3×1) surface reconstruction with missing spots. The missing spots indicate a glide plane symmetry of the (3×1) surface. Moreover, the LEED patterns have two-fold rotational symmetry, the surface structure should be p2mg-(3×1) or double domain of p1g1-(3×1). The same glide plane symmetry of the reconstructed surface structure and the ideal surface structure of Fe3O4(110) shows a strong relation between surface and bulk structures. We propose one possible model that corresponds to the p2mg-(3×1).