External stress as a way to control Au(111) reconstruction

D. Chauraud (1) , J. Durinck (2) , L. Vernisse (2) , S. Smalley (2) , M. Drouet (2) , C. Coupeau (2)

1 Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute I, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
2 PPrime [Poitiers] - Institut Pprime [UPR 3346]

We report investigations on gold single crystals carried out with the help of an original experimental set-up, combining a scanning tunneling microscope and a compression device under ultra high vacuum, that allows for in situ observations of stressed surfaces at the atomic scale. It is observed that a macroscopic compression strain may induce a reorganization of the Au(111) surface reconstruction, known as the chevron-like pattern. Molecular dynamics simulations using a modified embedded atom method potential have been carried out to highlight the elementary dislocation mechanisms at the origin of such an evolution.

Mots clés: Surface Reconstruction; Scanning Tunneling Microscopy; Molecular Dynamics

Domaines: Physique [physics]; Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]

D. Chauraud, J. Durinck, L. Vernisse, S. Smalley, M. Drouet, et al.. External stress as a way to control Au(111) reconstruction. Surface Science : A Journal Devoted to the Physics and Chemistry of Interfaces, 2021, 714, pp.121908. ⟨10.1016/j.susc.2021.121908⟩. ⟨hal-03681205⟩