DISCRETE-ROW GROWTH OF XENON ADSORBED ON THE VICINAL PT(997) SURFACE - COMPARISON BETWEEN THEORY AND EXPERIMENT

Xe exhibits a discrete-row growth mode on the vicinal Pt(997) surface by sequential attachment to the substrate steps. In order to interpret experimental results obtained by grazing incidence helium scattering, potential calculations are performed. A mean-field Hamiltonian within the two-dimensional Ising model is shown to explain the sequential-ro w growth observed in helium-atom diffraction studies. More specificall y, the calculated temperatures for the occurrence of each row depend m ainly on the shape of the potential increment due to the steps and cou ntersteps. They are in good agreement with the experimental values ass ociated with maxima in the scattered He intensity versus coverage curv es.