The melting of submonolayer ethane adsorbed on graphite : a LEED study

Abstract
The melting of ethane submonolayers has been studied by Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED). The solid phase S1 has a 4 x √3 rectangular commensurate structure with a herring-bone packing. At T = 65 K, S1 melts into a lattice fluid I1 having the hexagonal symmetry of a 2 x 2 commensurate structure. With increasing T, I1 continuously loses its positional and bond orientational orders. At T = 95 K, the LEED pattern shows a diffuse ring, characteristic of an isotropic fluid