THE GROWTH OF AG FILMS ON NI(100)

Using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) we have studied the growth of Ag films with coverages between 1/6 and 1.45 monolayers on room temperature Ni(100) substrates. In the submonolayer coverage range we observe a condensation of the Ag deposit in form of a network of connected islands of monoatomic height preferentially at step edges of the substrate. Two domains are identified on the Ag islands by the presence of orthogonal line structures. They are interpreted in terms of the c(2 x 8) LEED pattern. The Ag islands coalesce for a coverage of less than one monolayer. The second atomic Ag layer shows a different growth structure indicating a more perfect arrangement of Ag atoms in a face-centered-cubic (fcc) (111) layer.