Abstract
The disordering of the uniaxial Cs/Cu(110) (1×3) phase was studied by scanning tunneling microscopy as a test case for the theoretical predictions of a two-step disordering mechanism. Lowering the Cs coverage first causes the formation of domain walls in the (1×3) phase, indicating a transition from a two-dimensional commensurate solid into an incommensurate floating solid. Dislocations in this wall pattern lead to progressing disordering into an incommensurate fluid. Further coverage reduction stabilizes fluctuating domains of a (1×4) phase, which signal a close by continuous solid to fluid transition.
- Received 27 February 1992
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.69.2547
©1992 American Physical Society