Direct Observation of Atomic Steps in the Surface Reconstruction of the Pt (110) Plane

Atomic steps involved in the reconstruction of the Pt (110) plane, from the (1 ×{} 1) to the (1 ×{} 2) structure, have been directly observed in the field-ion microscope with use of nanosecond-pulsed-laser heating of the surface. The dominant steps are breaking of [110] atomic rows into fragments of two to a few atoms and lateral and cross-channel jumps of these fragments. Within the {~} 5-ns time resolution of the experiment, atoms are seen to jump in pairs or groups, and jumps of single atoms are rarely seen. The (1 ×{} 2) surface is stabilized by an attractive adatom interaction at {~} 2.8 and {~} 8 {}, and a repulsive interaction at intermediate distances.