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An oblique-incidence optical reflectivity difference and LEED study of rare-gas growth on a lattice-mismatched metal substrate

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Abstract

We studied the growth of Xe on Nb(110) from 33 K to 100 K using a combination of low-energy electron diffraction and an in situ oblique-incidence optical reflectivity difference technique. We found that a hexagonal close-packed Xe film grows after a transition layer of three monoatomic layers thick is formed. The first two monolayers, influenced by both the interaction with the Nb substrate and the Xe–Xe interaction, lack long-range order. The third monolayer forms a bulk-like hexagonal close-packed structure. Subsequently a bulk-phase Xe(111) film grows in step-flow mode from 54 K down to 40 K. At 40 K, we observed a brief crossover to a layer-by-layer mode. At 33 K the growth proceeds in a kinetically limited multilayer or a three-dimensional island mode.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of California, 95616, Davis, CA, USA

    P. Thomas, E. Nabighian, C.Y. Fong & X.D. Zhu

  2. Department of Chemistry and Materials Sciences, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 94550, Livermore, CA, USA

    M.C. Bartelt

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  1. P. Thomas
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  2. E. Nabighian
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  3. M.C. Bartelt
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  4. C.Y. Fong
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  5. X.D. Zhu
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Correspondence to X.D. Zhu.

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PACS

68.35.Fx; 68.35.Ja; 82.20.-w; 61.16.Ch

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Thomas, P., Nabighian, E., Bartelt, M. et al. An oblique-incidence optical reflectivity difference and LEED study of rare-gas growth on a lattice-mismatched metal substrate. Appl. Phys. A 79, 131–137 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-003-2261-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-003-2261-y

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