Double-sine-Gordon solitons: A model for misfit dislocations on the Au(111) reconstructed surface

Abstract

We demonstrate that the reconstruction of the Au(111) surface can be interpreted in terms of a new type of misfit dislocations, namely, double-sine-Gordon-type dislocations. First, we motivate the applicability of this class of solitons to the reconstruction problem. Second, we describe the procedure we have used to construct the model unit cell containing the double-sine-Gordon quasi one-dimensional dislocations. Finally, comparison with experimental He-scattering results is established by computation of the corresponding diffraction pattern using a hard corrugated wall and the eikonal approximation.