HOLOGRAPHIC RECONSTRUCTION FROM MEASURED DIFFUSE LOW-ENERGY-ELECTRON-DIFFRACTION INTENSITIES

The recent suggestion that a diffuse low-energy-electron-diffraction pattern from a disordered layer of adsorbate atoms on a crystal surface may be interpreted as a Fraunhofer hologram, from which crystallographic information may be extracted directly, is put to a practical test in the case of O/Ni(100). Holographic reconstruction yields an image of the Ni atoms closest to the O adsorbates. The image resolution appears sufficient for its use as a starting point for more established crystallographic techniques, to discriminate, in a preliminary search, between very different models.