Collapsing of thermally induced steps on the Pb(111) surface
- 1 May 1989
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters
- Vol. 62 (18) , 2148-2151
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.62.2148
Abstract
Using high-resolution low-energy electron diffraction techniques we have observed an increase in step density near 550 K in a stepped Pb(111) surface. At room temperature the Pb(111) surface contained steps with an average terrace width of 63 Å. At 580 K, after the surface reached its maximum roughness, the steps suddenly collapsed and the surface appeared to be extremely flat. A possible explanation of the observed phenomenon is the occurrence of a surface melting phase transition which is induced by the thermally excited high density of steps.Keywords
This publication has 22 references indexed in Scilit:
- Disordering and Melting of Aluminum SurfacesPhysical Review Letters, 1988
- X-Ray Scattering Studies of the Melting of Lead SurfacesPhysical Review Letters, 1988
- Anisotropy of the order-disorder phase transition on the Pb(110) surfacePhysical Review Letters, 1988
- Crystal-Face Dependence of Surface MeltingPhysical Review Letters, 1987
- Melting and nonmelting behavior of the Au(111) surfacePhysical Review B, 1987
- Summary Abstract: Temperature dependence of the structure of the Al(110) surfaceJournal of Vacuum Science & Technology A, 1987
- Multilayer relaxation and melting of a metal surfaceSurface Science, 1985
- Observation of Surface MeltingPhysical Review Letters, 1985
- Semi-infinite systems with first-order bulk transitionsPhysical Review B, 1983
- Surface theory of meltingSolid State Communications, 1979