Potassium-induced restructuring of the Au(001) surface

Low-energy-electron-diffraction patterns on the K-adsorbed Au(001) surface were observed as a function of K coverage at room temperature and at about 100 K. It was found that the hexagonal structure of the clean surface successively changes to a 1*1 and a 1*2 structure with increasing coverage at room temperature. The 1*2 pattern is explained by the reconstruction of the substrate Au(001) surface. The 1*2-reconstructed surface is considered to adopt missing-row-type structure, which is supported by the K-coverage dependence of the work-function change.