Temperature-dependent surface Fermi contours: Origin of unusual surface geometries on Ag(1 1 1)?

Abstract

The well-known Shockley-type surface state observed in normal photoemission from Ag(1 1 1) shifts linearly with temperature T and is located above the Fermi energy at T > 450 K. In consequence it gets partially empty at increasing T. We raise the question whether this is the reason for a surface reconstruction observed under particular electrochemical conditions [Y. Tang et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 67, 2814 (1991)] and for an unusual surface relaxation reported recently [P. Statiris et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 3574 (1994)].