).
The growth of submonolayer and monolayer Pb films on Cu(100) has been investigated by STM. In the submonolayer region a disordered surface alloy is found in spite of the immiscibility of bulk Cu and Pb. At a coverage of theta = 3/8 a c(4x4) superstructure is observed. The atomic arrangement of the c(4x4) superstructure unit cell could be revealed; it is formed by linear chains of Pb atoms in two rotational domains. Increasing the coverage to theta = 0.5, a c(2x2) structure can be observed. The transition to the c(5√2 × √2)R45° superstructure of the dense overlayer proceeds via the insertion of antiphase domain boundary. The model for the c(5√2 × √2)R45° superstructure presented in literature is confirmed.
Corresponding author: M. Schmid (schmid).
Users with online access to Surf. Sci. can load the article from the publisher.
Part of this work is on display in the IAP/TU Wien STM Gallery (see the Pb on Cu page).