Long-range spatial self-organization in the adsorbate-induced restructuring of surfaces: Cu{100}-(2×1)O

Abstract

He diffraction and scanning-tunneling-microscopy investigations on the growth of the Cu{110}-(2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1)O added-row structure reveal a novel phenomenon: the long-range spatial self-organization of two-dimensional islands. In a wide coverage range the anisotropic Cu-O islands arrange themselves in a striped periodic supergrating, with the stripes running along the 〈001〉 direction. The spacing of the supergrating depends on oxygen coverage and temperature and varies between 140 and 60 \AA{}.