Oxygen-induced p(3 x 1) reconstruction of the W(100) surface

Abstract

The oxidation of the W(100) surface at elevated temperatures has been studied using room temperature STM and LEED. High exposure of the clean surface to O-2 at 1500 K followed by flash-annealing to 2300 K in UHV results in the formation of a novel p(3 x 1) reconstruction, which is imaged by STM as a missing-row structure on the surface. Upon further annealing in UHV, this surface develops a floreted LEED pattern characteristic of twinned microdomains of monoclinic WO., while maintaining the p(3 x 1) missing-row Structure. Atomically resolved STM images of this surface show a complex domain structure with single and double W < 010 > rows coexisting on the surface in different domains.