Real-Space Observation of Nanoscale Inhomogeneities and Fluctuations in a Phase Transition of a Surface Quasi-One-Dimensional System: In/Si(111)

Geunseop Lee, Jiandong Guo, and E. W. Plummer
Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 116103 – Published 8 September 2005

Abstract

We report direct visualizations of the fluctuation and condensation phenomena in a phase transition of a one-dimensional (1D) In/Si(111) system using scanning tunneling microscopy. The high-temperature (HT) and low-temperature (LT) phases are found to coexist on the nanometer scale near Tc. Above Tc, 1D LT-phase stripes fluctuate in the HT phase and coalesce into 2D islands with decreasing temperature. They condense to make the LT phase below Tc. Small areas of the HT phase also exist below Tc. The observed temperature-dependent evolution of the nanoscale inhomogeneities is consistent with the theoretical predictions for a second-order phase transition.

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  • Received 8 June 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.116103

©2005 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Geunseop Lee1,*, Jiandong Guo2, and E. W. Plummer2,3

  • 1Department of Physics, Inha University, Inchon 402-751, Korea
  • 2Department of Physics, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
  • 3Condensed-Matter Science Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA

  • *Corresponding author. Electronic address: glee@inha.ac.kr

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Issue

Vol. 95, Iss. 11 — 9 September 2005

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