Nucleation of Pb starfish clusters on the five-fold Al-Pd-Mn quasicrystal surface

Autor(en)

J Ledieu, Marian Krajci, Juergen Hafner, L. Leung, L. H. Wearing, R McGrath, Tommaso A. Lograsso, D. Wu, V. Fournee

Abstrakt

The nucleation of Pb clusters on the five-fold Al-Pd-Mn quasicrystal surface has been investigated using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and ab initio calculations based on density-functional theory (DFT). In the submonolayer regime, Pb atoms are highly mobile and adsorb preferentially within equatorially truncated pseudo-Mackay clusters present at the surface. The decoration of these unique adsorption sites leads to the formation of five-fold islands dubbed “starfish” and eventually to a quasiperiodic Pb monolayer. From a comparison of measured and calculated STM images it is concluded that most starfish clusters on all terraces are composed of ten Pb adatoms. A model of the structure of the starfish cluster has been proposed. Our total-energy calculations confirm its stability. The experimentally measured height profile of the starfish cluster is also reproduced by the DFT calculations.

Organisation(en)

Computergestützte Materialphysik

Externe Organisation(en)

Ecole des Mines de Nancy, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, University of Liverpool, Iowa State University, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3

Journal

Physical Review B

Band

79

Anzahl der Seiten

10

ISSN

1098-0121

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.79.165430

Publikationsdatum

2009

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

1030 Physik, Astronomie

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/1113aa05-0d9a-473f-8157-54a5cb0d8aa0