Theory of alkali-metal-induced reconstructions of fcc(100) surfaces

Calculations of missing-row reconstruction energies of the fcc(100) surfaces of the metals Al, Ni, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag, and Au have been performed with the effective-medium theory with and without the presence of a potassium overlayer. It is shown that the tendency to reconstruct in the presence of adsorbed K is largest for Ag. This is in accordance with recent experiments indicating a potassium-induced missing-row reconstruction for Ag, but not for other metals. The tendency is shown to be related to the relatively low bulk modulus of silver. Differences from the well-known alkali-metal-induced reconstruction of fcc(110) surfaces are pointed out.