STRESS-INDUCED PHENOMENA ON GOLD SURFACES IN AIR

When gold atoms are field-evaporated onto a gold surface in an STM in an atmospheric environment, the deposited clusters can induce a large strain on the substrate around them. Cluster atoms may spread by diffu sion to relieve the strain. Sometimes, additional features involving t he substrate atoms are formed which can be changed by the scanning dir ection of the tip. For a surface which has not yet reached the thermal equilibrium state, the tip scanning can occasionally induce large-sca le structural changes of the surface.