UHV MICROSCOPY OF THE RECONSTRUCTED AU(001) SURFACE

We investigate the microstructure of the reconstructed Au(001) surface using ultra-high vacuum transmission electron microscopy (UHV-TEM). Bulk single crystal Au(001) surfaces were prepared via standard metallographic techniques followed by repetitive cleaning of the surface with ion milling and annealing. After a clean surface was obtained, the (001) surface was found to reconstruct into two nearly orthogonal domains of dimensions (5 x n) where n ranges between 15 and 21. The unit cell vectors of the surface cell are parallel to the <110> directions of the unreconstructed fcc (001) surface. Analysis of the diffuse scattering and dark field micrographs indicates that the surface is sheared with a complicated domain and periodicity structure which depends upon the local geometry of the substrate.