SURFACE MELTING AND SURFACE ROUGHENING OF Pb(110) STUDIED BY LOW ENERGY ION SCATTERING

Abstract

The Pb(110) surface undergoes two phase transitions. At about 400 K a roughening transition is observed. At 580 K, i.e. about 20 K below the bulk melting point, surface melting is found, The surface develops point defects at rather low temperatures. The roughening is connected with the generation of steps or the reduction of terrace size. There is also evidence for anisotropy of the roughening transition. Low energy ion scattering experiments in the temperature range from 160 to 590 K are used to study the structural changes of the Pb(110) surface.