LEED STRUCTURE-ANALYSIS OF THE NI (100) (2X2)C(P4G) STRUCTURE - CASE OF ADSORBATE-INDUCED SUBSTRATE DISTORTION

A detailed study has been undertaken of the Ni{100} (2 × 2)C structure formed by cracking ethylene on a clean Ni{100} surface. The LEED pattern shows characteristic missing spots which can be attributed to the presence of glide lines and indicate a space group symmetry of p4g. We show that this can be readily interpreted in terms of a distortion of the top nickel layer both parallel and perpendicular to the surface, which accompanies the carbon adsorption. Detailed comparisons of LEED intensity data with dynamical calculations indicate that the top layer nickel atoms are displaced 0.35 ± 0.05 Å parallel to the surface, 0.20 ± 0.05 Å outwards from the surface, and that the carbon atoms are in 4-fold hollows (now distorted) at a spacing of 0.1 ± 0.1 Å from the surface. These conclusions lead to a nickel-carbon nearest neighbour spacing of 1.803 ± 0.015 Å. © 1979.