Fermi Surface Nesting and Structural Transition on a Metal Surface: In/Cu(001)

Abstract
Peierls-type instability and structural phase transition are shown to occur on the surface of a normal metal. An In overlayer on Cu(001) undergoes a reversible transition at 350K. Scanning tunneling microscopy of the low-temperature, reduced-symmetry phase indicates a strong periodic lattice distortion (PLD). Angle-resolved photoemission of the high-temperature phase reveals that the In-derived surface resonance constitutes a square-shaped, quasi-two-dimensional Fermi surface within the projected bulk Cu bands. The Fermi surface exhibits one-dimensional nesting upon the transition, which is in agreement with the PLD periodicity.