Transition from commensurate to incommensurate xenon rafts on platinum (111) observed with molecular dynamics

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Abstract
We have observed a transition from commensurate to incommensurate structure in xenon rafts of 49 particles physisorbed on Pt(111) using molecular dynamics. In the commensurate phase there are small short-lived uniaxial-strain events which deform the rafts, but in the incommensurate phase these strain events penetrate deeply into the rafts and persist over periods as long as 240 ps. We believe the transition from these nonpersistent to persistent strain events in the small rafts corresponds to the transition from commensurate to incommensurate phases of xenon observed by Kern, David, Palmer, and Comsa [Phys. Rev. Lett. 56, 620 (1986)] using high-resolution He scattering on submonolayers of xenon physisorbed on Pt(111).