Direct Observation of Atomic Steps in the Surface Reconstruction of the Pt (110) Plane

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Abstract
Atomic steps involved in the reconstruction of the Pt (110) plane, from the (1 × 1) to the (1 × 2) structure, have been directly observed in the field-ion microscope with use of nanosecond-pulsed-laser heating of the surface. The dominant steps are breaking of [110] atomic rows into fragments of two to a few atoms and lateral and cross-channel jumps of these fragments. Within the ∼ 5-ns time resolution of the experiment, atoms are seen to jump in pairs or groups, and jumps of single atoms are rarely seen. The (1 × 2) surface is stabilized by an attractive adatom interaction at ∼ 2.8 and ∼ 8 Å, and a repulsive interaction at intermediate distances.