"Dealloying" Phase Separation during Growth of Au on Ni(110)

Combined scanning tunneling microscopy and ion-scattering studies have revealed a new "dealloying" phase transition during the growth of Au on Ni(110). The Au atoms, which initially alloy into the Ni(110) surface, phase separate into a vacancy-stabilized Au dimer-trimer chain structure at Au coverages larger than 0.4 monolayer.

Using the effective-medium theory, we show that the resulting structure as well as the physical mechanism responsible for the phase transition are closely related to the surface stress induced by the substituted Au.