Atomic and mesoscopic structure of Dy-based surface alloys on noble metals

  • Surface alloys are a highly flexible class of low dimensional materials with the opportunity to tune and control the spin and charge carrier functionalities on the nanoscale. Here, we focus on the atomic and mesoscopic structural details of three distinct binary rare-earth-noble metals (NM) surface alloys by employing scanning tunneling microscopy and low energy electron diffraction. Using Dysprosium as the guest element on fcc(111) NM substrates, we identify the formation of non-commensurate surface alloy superstructures, which lead to homogeneous moiré patterns for DyCu2/Cu(111) and DyAu2/Au(111), while an inhomogeneous one is found for DyAg2/Ag(111). The local structure was analyzed for these samples and the observed differences are discussed in the light of the lattice mismatches of the alloy layer with respect to the underlying substrate. For the particularly intriguing case of a DyAg2 surface alloy, the surface alloy layer does not show a uniform long-range periodic structure,Surface alloys are a highly flexible class of low dimensional materials with the opportunity to tune and control the spin and charge carrier functionalities on the nanoscale. Here, we focus on the atomic and mesoscopic structural details of three distinct binary rare-earth-noble metals (NM) surface alloys by employing scanning tunneling microscopy and low energy electron diffraction. Using Dysprosium as the guest element on fcc(111) NM substrates, we identify the formation of non-commensurate surface alloy superstructures, which lead to homogeneous moiré patterns for DyCu2/Cu(111) and DyAu2/Au(111), while an inhomogeneous one is found for DyAg2/Ag(111). The local structure was analyzed for these samples and the observed differences are discussed in the light of the lattice mismatches of the alloy layer with respect to the underlying substrate. For the particularly intriguing case of a DyAg2 surface alloy, the surface alloy layer does not show a uniform long-range periodic structure, but consists of local hexagonal tiles separated by extended domain walls, which occur likely to relieve the in-plane strain within the DyAg2 surface alloy layer. Our findings clearly demonstrate that surface alloying is an intriguing tool to tailor the local atomic structure as well as the mesoscopic moiré structures of metallic heterostructures.show moreshow less

Download full text files

Export metadata

Statistics

Number of document requests

Additional Services

Share in Twitter Search Google Scholar
Metadaten
Author:Sina Mousavion, Ka Man Yu, Mahalingam Maniraj, Lu Lyu, Johannes Knippertz, Benjamin StadtmüllerGND, Martin Aeschlimann
URN:urn:nbn:de:bvb:384-opus4-1129938
Frontdoor URLhttps://opus.bibliothek.uni-augsburg.de/opus4/112993
ISSN:1367-2630OPAC
Parent Title (English):New Journal of Physics
Publisher:IOP Publishing
Type:Article
Language:English
Year of first Publication:2022
Publishing Institution:Universität Augsburg
Release Date:2024/05/14
Volume:24
Issue:3
First Page:033048
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ac5c17
Institutes:Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlich-Technische Fakultät
Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlich-Technische Fakultät / Institut für Physik
Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlich-Technische Fakultät / Institut für Physik / Lehrstuhl für Experimentalphysik II
Dewey Decimal Classification:5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 53 Physik / 530 Physik
Licence (German):CC-BY 4.0: Creative Commons: Namensnennung (mit Print on Demand)