How asymmetric islands become symmetric

Citation
Mj. Rost et al., How asymmetric islands become symmetric, PHYS REV L, 86(26), 2001, pp. 5938-5941
Citations number
18
Categorie Soggetti
Physics
Journal title
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
ISSN journal
00319007 → ACNP
Volume
86
Issue
26
Year of publication
2001
Pages
5938 - 5941
Database
ISI
SICI code
0031-9007(20010625)86:26<5938:HAIBS>2.0.ZU;2-P
Abstract
Scanning tunneling microscopy reveals that sputtering of the Au(110) surfac e results in the formation of vacancy islands with a broken mirror symmetry These islands exhibit two types of steps on opposite sides: a lower energy (111) step and a higher energy (331) step. We analyze the thermal fluctuat ions and especially the kink distribution of such vacancy islands. Despite the broken symmetry, which they adopt internally, these islands show a symm etric average outer contour. Their coarsening proceeds via a variety of pat hways, often leading to new, symmetric structures, with exclusively (111) s teps. The lowest energy vacancy configuration is a bound pair of two vacanc y lines or islands.