Nanoscale periodicity in stripe-forming systems at high temperature: Au/W(110).
We observe using low-energy electron microscopy the self-assembly of monolayer-thick stripes of Au on W(110) near the transition temperature between stripes and the nonpatterned (homogeneous) phase. We demonstrate that the amplitude of this Au-stripe phase decreases with increasing temperature and vanishes at the order-disorder transition (ODT). The wavelength varies much more slowly with temperature and coverage than theories of stress-domain patterns with sharp boundaries would predict, and maintains a finite value of about 100 nm at the ODT. We argue that such nanometer-scale stripes should often appear near the ODT.
de la Figuera
J
J
Insituto de Química-Física Rocasolano, CSIC, Madrid 28006 Spain.
Léonard
F
F
Bartelt
N C
NC
Stumpf
R
R
McCarty
K F
KF