Scanning-tunneling-microscope study of antiphase domain boundaries, dislocations, and local mass transport on Au(110) surfaces

Abstract

We have used a scanning tunneling microscope to investigate surface defects and atomic motion occurring on Au(110)(1×2) reconstructed surfaces at room temperature over a period of time of several hours. Evaluation of time-lapsed topographies shows that distinct changes occur at step structures and domain walls. These features can be classified into basic building blocks to model surface disorder and from the relative changes occurring at each element a local description of mass transport is obtained. Local transport via kinks occurring along atomic rows of the superstructure in [11»0] is observed to dominate. Finally, unique atomic structures introduced by bulk dislocations are presented and the subsequent influence on the creation of new phase boundaries and distortions in the surface superstructure are discussed. © 1992 The American Physical Society.