Segregation and ordering at the (1×2) reconstructedPt80Fe20(110) surface determined by low-energy electron diffraction

Abstract

The surface of an ordered ${\mathrm{Pt}}_{80}$ ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{20}$(110) crystal exhibits (1×2) and (1×3) reconstructions depending on the annealing treatment after ion bombardment. The (1×3) structure occurs after annealing in the range 750 to 900 K. Annealing above 1000 K leads to the (1×2) structure, which is, from the present result, unambiguously attributed to the same geometrical reconstruction as Pt(110) but with smaller relaxation amplitudes: a detailed low-energy electron-diffraction analysis concludes to a missing-row structure with row pairing in layers 2 and 4 accompanied by a buckling in layers 3 and 5. The top layer spacing is contracted by 13%, and further relaxations are detectable down to the fifth layer. The specific diffraction spots associated with the bulk chemical ordering along the dense [1¯10] rows are very weak: The I(V) analysis shows that this chemical ordering is absent in the outermost ‘‘visible’’ rows but gradually recovers over five to six layers deep. General Pt enrichment is found in the surface ‘‘visible’’ rows (in layers 1–3), but segregation and order yield a subtle redistribution of Pt and Fe atoms in deeper rows: For example, in layer 2, the visible row is Pt rich, whereas the other row (buried under layer 1) is enriched with Fe. Because of the many parameters considered, a fit procedure was applied to a large data basis to solve the structure; the results were confirmed and illustrated subsequently by a standard I(V) analysis for the most relevant parameters. The final r factors are ${\mathit{R}}_{\mathrm{DE}}$=0.36, ${\mathit{R}}_{\mathit{P}}$=0.34, and ${\mathit{R}}_{\mathrm{ZJ}}$=0.14 for two beam sets at normal and oblique incidence consisting of 26 and 21 beams, respectively.