Abstract
Using low-energy electron diffraction, we show that the room-temperature reconstruction of FeO(100) reversibly disorders at 450C. Short-range order persists above the transition, suggesting that the transition is second order and Ising-like. We interpret the transition in terms of a model in which subsurface Fe is replaced by Fe as the temperature is raised. This model reproduces the structure of antiphase boundaries previously observed with scanning tunneling microscopy, as well as the continuous nature of the transition. To account for the observed transition temperature, the energy cost of each charge rearrangement is 82 meV.
- Received 9 October 2013
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.88.235436
©2013 American Physical Society