DISTORTION OF A SUBSTRATE-INDUCED BY ADSORPTION AT SOLID-LIQUID INTERFACES

Employing a generalized lattice gas theory and the Brownian dynamics s imulation, we show that the presence of an adsorbate may induce a dist ortive transition in the underlying substrate. The transition takes pl ace if we have a strong pinning of the adsorbate and the lateral inter action strong enough to compete with the cohesive energy of the substr ate. The threshold for the transition is determined by an interplay of the elastic energies arising from the atomic displacements of both su bsystems. The resulting lattice configuration appears as a compromise between the symmetry of the clean substrate and the symmetry of the cl ose packed adsorbate. [S0031-9007(98)07554-1].