Reconstruction mechanism of fcc transition metal (001) surfaces

The Reconstruction of Pt(001) Surface and the Shell-Like Reconstruction of the Vicinal Pt(001) Surfaces Revealed by Neural Network Potential

In this work, a highly accurate neural network potential (NNP) is presented, named PtNNP, and the exploration of the reconstruction of the Pt(001) surface and its vicinal surfaces with it. Contrary to the most accepted understanding of the Pt(001) surface reconstruction, the study reveals that the main driving force behind Pt(001) quasi-hexagonal reconstruction is not the surface stress relaxation but the increased coordination number of the surface atoms resulting in stronger intralayer binding in the reconstructed surface layer. In agreement with experimental observations, the optimized supercell size of the reconstructed Pt(001) surface contains (5 × 20) unit cells. Surprisingly, the reconstruction of the vicinal Pt(001) surfaces leads to a smooth shell-like surface layer covering the whole surface and diminishing sharp step edges.

Long-bonding and bonding nature in noble gas insertion compounds MNgBY of transition metal-boron bond

The nature of inert gas bonding has always been an important topic. The bonds of noble gases cover the entire range of chemical bonds, from the weakest van der Waals forces, to non-covalent interactions, and to covalent bonds. Two types of methods were used to investigate the properties of chemical bonds in the inert gas inserted compound MNgBY with the transition metal M = Cu/Ag/Au and substituents Y = O/S/NH, one based on orbital analysis and the other based on electron density analysis. The NBO/NRT analysis shows that in these compounds there exists long-bonding striding the noble gas between the transitional metal and boron, similar to the noble gas insertion compounds HNgX of hydrohalide, and so a three-center four-electron bond exists among the M-Ng-B part. The electron density analyses show that the M-Ng bond between the metal Cu/Ag/Au and noble gas and the Ng-B bond in the Cu/Ag compounds are partial covalent but the Ng-B bond in Au compounds is a typical covalent bond. The large relativistic effects of Au cause the bonds in Au compounds shorter and stronger than the bonds in Ag/Cu compounds. The properties of the M-Ng and Ng-B bonds are not affected by substituents Y, but the bond lengths are sensitive to substituents.

The role of three-dimensional bulk clusters in determining surface morphologies of intermetallic compounds: Quasicrystals to clathrates

Nanostructured alloy surfaces present unique physical properties and chemical reactivities that are quite different from those of the close-packed low-index surfaces. This can be beneficial for the design of new catalysts and electronic and data-storage devices. However, the growth of such surface nanostructures is not straightforward at the atomic scale. The cluster-based bulk structure of intermetallic compounds presents an original alternative to build surfaces with specific morphologies, in comparison to more traditional methods based on mechanical, chemical, or plasma treatments. It relies on their specific electronic structures-built from a network of bonds with a combination of ionic, covalent-like, and metallic characters, and also depends on the experimental conditions. In this paper, a few surface structures of cluster-based intermetallics are reviewed, with a special emphasis on quasicrystals and clathrates. We show how the intrinsic electronic properties of such compounds, as well as the surface preparation conditions, impact their surface morphologies, which can further influence the growth of atomic and molecular thin films at their surface.

Localization model description of the interfacial dynamics of crystalline Cu and Cu64Zr36 metallic glass films

Recent studies of structural relaxation in Cu-Zr metallic glass materials having a range of compositions and over a wide range of temperatures and in crystalline UO₂ under superionic conditions have indicated that the localization model (LM) can predict the structural relaxation time τ_α of these materials from the intermediate scattering function without any free parameters from the particle mean square displacement ⟨r²⟩ at a caging time on the order of ps, i.e., the "Debye-Waller factor" (DWF). In the present work, we test whether this remarkable relation between the "fast" picosecond dynamics and the rate of structural relaxation τ_α in these model amorphous and crystalline materials can be extended to the prediction of the local interfacial dynamics of model amorphous and crystalline films. Specifically, we simulate the free-standing amorphous Cu₆₄Zr₃₆ and crystalline Cu films and find that the LM provides an excellent parameter-free prediction for τ_α of the interfacial region. We also show that the Tammann temperature, defining the initial formation of a mobile interfacial layer, can be estimated precisely for both crystalline and glass-forming solid materials from the condition that the DWFs of the interfacial region and the material interior coincide.

Elastocapillary Ridge as a Noninteger Disclination

Understanding the interfacial properties of solids with their environment is a crucial problem in fundamental science and applications. Elastomers have challenged the scientific community in this respect, and a satisfying description is still missing. Here, we argue that the interfacial properties of elastomers, such as their wettability, can be understood with a nonlinear elastic model with the assumption of a strain-independent surface energy. We show that our model captures accurately available data on elastomer wettability and discuss its implications.

Regulating Surface Facets of Metallic Aerogel Electrocatalysts by Size-Dependent Localized Ostwald Ripening

It is well known that the activity and stability of electrocatalysts are largely dependent on their surface facets. In this work, we have successfully regulated surface facets of three-dimensional (3D) metallic Au ^{m- n} aerogels by salt-induced assembly of citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) of two different sizes and further size-dependent localized Ostwald ripening at controlled particle number ratios, where m and n represent the size of Au NPs. In addition, 3D Au ^{m- n}-Pd aerogels were further synthesized on the basis of Au ^{m- n} aerogels and also bear controlled surface facets because of the formation of ultrathin Pd layers on Au ^{m- n} aerogels. Taking the electrooxidation of small organic molecules (such as methanol and ethanol) by the resulting Au ^{m- n} and Au ^{m- n}-Pd aerogels as examples, it is found that surface facets of metallic aerogels with excellent performance can be regulated to realize preferential surface facets for methanol oxidation and ethanol oxidation, respectively. Moreover, they also indeed simultaneously bear high activity and excellent stability. Furthermore, their activities and stability are also highly dependent on the area ratio of active facets and inactive facets on their surfaces, respectively, and these ratios are varied via the mismatch of sizes of adjacent NPs. Thus, this work not only demonstrates the realization of the regulation of the surface facets of metallic aerogels by size-dependent localized Ostwald ripening but also will open up a new way to improve electrocatalytic performance of 3D metallic aerogels by surface regulation.

Electrocapillary Coupling at Metal Surfaces from First Principles: On the Impact of Excess Charge on Surface Stress and Relaxation

We study the response of the surface stress to excess charge via ab initio simulation of metal surfaces in an external electric field. We focus on "simple" sp-bonded metals to gain insight into the mechanisms underlying electrocapillary coupling. Both the direct effect on the surface stress via charging of the bonds and the indirect effect resulting from the charge-induced relaxation are analyzed and discussed in relation to the trends of the coupling coefficients, which-owing to a Maxwell relation-are determined in terms of the response of the work function to strain. Al(111), Mg(0001), and Na(110) are investigated as prototypical sp-bonded metal surfaces with positive, vanishing, and negative coupling parameters, respectively. Mg(0001) and Al(111) exhibit an inward relaxation of the first atomic layer upon negative charging, whereas an outward relaxation occurs for Na(110). The indirect contribution of the relaxation to the coupling coefficient has the same sign as the total response and makes up about 30% of its magnitude for Al(111) and Na(110). Our study highlights that even the response behavior of the so-called simple metals is by no means readily captured within simple models.

Surface and Epitaxial Stresses on Supported Metal Clusters

Surface stress and energy are basic quantities in the Gibbsian formulation of the thermodynamic description of surfaces which is central in the formation and long-term behavior of materials at the nanoscale. However, their size dependence is a puzzling issue. It is even unclear whether they decrease or increase with decreasing particle size. In addition, for a given metal, estimates often span over an order of magnitude, far apart from bulk data, which, in the absence of any explicit size-dependence rule, escapes understanding. Here, we combine X-ray absorption and nanoplasmonics data with atomistic simulation to describe α-Al2O3(0001)-supported silver particles. By comparison to MgO(001)-supported and embedded silver, we distinguish epitaxial and surface stress. The latter is shown to dominate above 3 nm in size. Since the observation mostly relies on surface/bulk ratio, a metal-independent picture emerges that is expected to have far-reaching consequences for the understanding of the energetics of nanoparticles.

Trimetallic PtSnRh Wavy Nanowires as Efficient Nanoelectrocatalysts for Alcohol Electrooxidation

The design and creation of efficient catalysts for alcohol oxidation reaction has attracted great research attention because alcohols are promising fuels for direct fuel cell reactions because of their high energy density, easy storage, and transportation. We herein report an efficient strategy that allows the preparation of ternary PtSnM (M=Co, Ni, and Rh) wavy nanowires (WNWs) with ultrathin diameter of only around 2 nm and tunable compositions in high yield. Detailed catalytic studies show that all the ternary WNWs exhibit high performance for ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) and methanol oxidation reaction (MOR), and their performance shows interesting composition-dependent electrocatalytic activity with PtSnRh WNWs having the best activity for both EOR and MOR. The PtSnRh WNWs are also more stable than commercial Pt/C catalyst, as revealed by long-time chronoamperometric (CA) measurements. The present work highlights the use of multimetallic WNWs as highly active and durable nanocatalysts in enhancing alcohol electrooxidation, which will open a new way in tuning 1D multimetallic nanostructures for boosting other fuel cell reactions, various heterogeneous reactions, and beyond.

Quantitative measurement of the surface self-diffusion on Au nanoparticles by aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy

We present a method that allows for a quantitative measurement of the surface self-diffusion on nanostructures, such as nanoparticles, at the atomic scale using aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The diffusion coefficient can be estimated by measuring the fluctuation of the atom column occupation at the surface of Au nanoparticles, which is directly observable in temporal sequences of HRTEM images. Both a Au icosahedron and a truncated Au octahedron are investigated, and their diffusion coefficients are found to be in the same order of magnitude, D = 10(-17) to 10(-16) cm(2)/s. It is to be assumed that the measured surface diffusion is affected by the imaging electron beam. This assumption is supported by the observed instability of a (5 × 1) surface reconstruction on a {100} Au facet.

A New Mechanism of Stabilization of Large Decahedral Nanoparticles

The stability of decahedral shaped nanoparticles depends upon size. Ino and Marks introduced new mechanisms for the stabilization of decahedra nanoparticles which involves the faceting and the formation of surfaces different of {111}. These mechanisms have relevance for small size nanoparticles; however, they do not explain, thoroughly, how decahedral particles can grow up to 300 nm or more. Here, we report new mechanisms that help stabilize very large decahedral. With the use of aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy, we observed the formation of high index facets, determined to be of the {511} family, on all five sides of the particles. Surface dislocations strings are also observed. In addition, surface reconstruction of the {001} surfaces can also be observed in two different orientation: with hexagonal strings along the [110] and along the [410] directions.

Ambient surfactantless synthesis, growth mechanism, and size-dependent electrocatalytic behavior of high-quality, single crystalline palladium nanowires

In this report, we utilize the U-tube double diffusion device as a reliable, environmentally friendly method for the size-controlled synthesis of high-quality, single crystalline Pd nanowires. The nanowires grown in 200 and 15 nm polycarbonate template pores maintain diameters of 270 ± 45 nm and 45 ± 9 nm, respectively, and could be isolated either as individual nanowires or as ordered free-standing arrays. The growth mechanism of these nanowires has been extensively explored, and we have carried out characterization of the isolated nanowires, free-standing nanowire arrays, and cross sections of the filled template in order to determine that a unique two-step growth process predominates within the template pores. Moreover, as-prepared submicrometer and nanosized wires were studied by comparison with ultrathin 2 nm Pd nanowires in order to elucidate the size-dependent trend in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysis. Subsequently, the desired platinum monolayer overcoating was reliably deposited onto the surface of the Pd nanowires by Cu underpotential deposition (UPD) followed by galvanic displacement of the Cu adatoms. The specific and platinum mass activity of the core-shell catalysts was found to increase from 0.40 mA/cm(2) and 1.01 A/mg to 0.74 mA/cm(2) and 1.74 A/mg as the diameter was decreased from the submicrometer size regime to the ultrathin nanometer range.

Surface Alloying and Surfactant Action of Sb ON Ag (111)

We report ab initio calculations for Sb and Ag adsorption on Ag (111): evidence is found for substitutional adsorption and surface segregation of Sb, and for the formation of a disordered surface Sb-Ag alloy. The average diffusion barrier for Ag is enhanced on Sb-covered Ag (111), which favors the formation of a high density of small-sized islands: this is suggested to be the cause of the surfactant action of Sb on Ag reported recently.

Compressive surface stress in magnetic transition metals

Because of the increased electron density within the surface layer, metal surfaces are generally expected to have tensile surface stress. Here, using first-principles density functional calculations, we demonstrate that in magnetic 3d metals surface magnetism can alter this commonly accepted picture. We find that the thermodynamically stable surfaces of chromium and manganese possess compressive surface stress. The revealed negative surface stress is shown to be ascribed to the enhanced magnetic moments within the surface layer relative to the bulk values.

Size-dependent enhancement of electrocatalytic performance in relatively defect-free, processed ultrathin platinum nanowires

We report on the synthesis, characterization, and electrocatalytic performance of ultrathin Pt nanowires with a diameter of less than 2 nm. An acid-wash protocol was employed in order to yield highly exfoliated, crystalline nanowires with a diameter of 1.3 +/- 0.4 nm. The electrocatalytic activity of these nanowires toward the oxygen reduction reaction was studied in relation to the activity of both supported and unsupported Pt nanoparticles as well as with previously synthesized Pt nanotubes. Our ultrathin, acid-treated, unsupported nanowires displayed an electrochemical surface area activity of 1.45 mA/cm(2), which was nearly 4 times greater than that of analogous, unsupported platinum nanotubes and 7 times greater than that of commercial supported platinum nanoparticles.

Surface X-ray speckles: coherent surface diffraction from Au(001)

We present coherent speckled x-ray diffraction patterns obtained from a monolayer of surface atoms. We measured both the specular anti-Bragg reflection and the off-specular hexagonal reconstruction peak for the Au(001) surface reconstruction. We observed fluctuations of the speckle patterns even when the integrated intensity appears static. By autocorrelating the speckle patterns, we were able to identify two qualitatively different surface dynamic behaviors of the hex reconstruction depending on the sample temperature.

Restructuring of hex-Pt(100) under CO gas environments: formation of 2-D nanoclusters

The atomic-scale restructuring of hex-Pt(100) induced by carbon monoxide with a wide pressure range was studied with a newly designed chamber-in-chamber high-pressure STM and theoretical calculations. Both experimental and DFT calculation results show that CO molecules are bound to Pt nanoclusters through a tilted on-top configuration with a separation of approximately 3.7-4.1 A. The phenomenon of restructuring of metal catalyst surfaces induced by adsorption and, in particular, the formation of small metallic clusters suggests the importance of studying structures of catalyst surfaces under high-pressure conditions for understanding catalytic mechanisms.

Surface-chemistry-driven actuation in nanoporous gold

Although actuation in biological systems is exclusively powered by chemical energy, this concept has not been realized in man-made actuator technologies, as these rely on generating heat or electricity first. Here, we demonstrate that surface-chemistry-driven actuation can be realized in high-surface-area materials such as nanoporous gold. For example, we achieve reversible strain amplitudes of the order of a few tenths of a per cent by alternating exposure of nanoporous Au to ozone and carbon monoxide. The effect can be explained by adsorbate-induced changes of the surface stress, and can be used to convert chemical energy directly into a mechanical response, thus opening the door to surface-chemistry-driven actuator and sensor technologies.

Adsorption-induced surface stresses in alkanethiolate-au self-assembled monolayers

First-principles calculations were employed to elucidate the origin of adsorption-induced surface stresses in alkanethiolate self-assembled monolayers on an Au(111) surface. Our results suggest a mechanism that accounts for the huge relief of the tensile stress compared to the bare surface in terms of a local rearrangement of surface Au atoms accompanying charge removal from the surface towards the Au-S bond. A purely interadsorbate interaction model is shown to be inconsistent with the anisotropy and the magnitude of the calculated stress.

CO-activator model for reconstructing Pt(100) surfaces: local microstructures and chemical turbulence

We present the results of the modeling of CO adsorption and catalytic CO oxidation on inhomogeneous Pt(100) surfaces which contain structurally different areas. These areas are formed during the CO-induced transition from a reconstructed phase with hexagonal geometry of the overlayer to a bulklike (1 x 1) phase with square atomic arrangement. In the present approach, the surface transition is explained in terms of nonequilibrium bistable behavior. The bistable region is characterized by a coexistence of the hexagonal and (1 x 1) phases and is terminated in a critical bifurcation point which is located at (T(c) approximately 680 K, p(CO)(c) approximately 10 Torr). Due to increasing fluctuations, the behavior at high temperatures and pressures in the vicinity of this cusp point should be qualitatively different from the hysteresis-type behavior which is typically observed in the experiments under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. On the inhomogeneous surface, we find a regime of nonuniform oscillations characterized by random standing waves of adsorbate concentrations. The resulting spatial deformations of wave fronts allow us to gain deeper insight into the nature of irregular oscillations on Pt(100) surface.

Effect of surface stress on the stiffness of cantilever plates

Measurements over the past 30 years have indicated that surface stress can significantly affect the stiffness of microcantilever plates. Several one-dimensional models based on beam theory have been proposed to explain this phenomenon, but are found to be in violation of Newton's third law, in spite of their good agreement with measurements. In this Letter, we review this work and rigorously examine the effect of surface stress on the stiffness of cantilever plates using a full three-dimensional model. This study establishes the relationship between surface stress and cantilever stiffness, and in so doing elucidates its scaling behavior with cantilever dimensions. The use of short nanoscale cantilevers thus presents the most promising avenue for future investigations.

Crystal-melt interface stresses: atomistic simulation calculations for a Lennard-Jones binary alloy, Stillinger-Weber Si, and embedded atom method Ni

Molecular-dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations have been used to compute the crystal-melt interface stress (f) in a model Lennard-Jones (LJ) binary alloy system, as well as for elemental Si and Ni modeled by many-body Stillinger-Weber and embedded-atom-method (EAM) potentials, respectively. For the LJ alloys the interface stress in the (100) orientation was found to be negative and the f vs composition behavior exhibits a slight negative deviation from linearity. For Stillinger-Weber Si, a positive interface stress was found for both (100) and (111) interfaces: f{100}=(380+/-30)mJ/m{2} and f{111}=(300+/-10)mJ/m{2}. The Si (100) and (111) interface stresses are roughly 80 and 65% of the value of the interfacial free energy (gamma) , respectively. In EAM Ni we obtained f{100}=(22+/-74)mJ/m{2}, which is an order of magnitude lower than gamma. A qualitative explanation for the trends in f is discussed.

Lifting the Pt[100] surface reconstruction through oxygen adsorption: a density functional theory analysis

The adsorption of atomic oxygen on unreconstructed Pt[100]-(1 x 1) and reconstructed Pt[100]-(5 x 1) was modeled using density-functional theory in an attempt to understand the relative stability of the unreconstructed phase as a function of oxygen coverage. Our calculations showed that at zero temperature the (5 x 1) is more stable than the unreconstructed (1 x 1) phase at zero oxygen coverage. However, oxygen absorption on the Pt[100]-(5 x 1) phase removed the reconstruction, reversing the phase stability. Using thermochemical analysis, we show desorption of oxygen corresponding to a temperature near 730 K, consistent with experimentally observed desorption peaks for oxygen covered (1 x 1) surfaces. These results have ramifications for understanding the full Pt[100](1 x 1)-->Pt[100]hex-R0.7 degrees surface phase transition.

In Situ Stress and Nanogravimetric Measurements during Underpotential Deposition of Bismuth on (111)-Textured Au

The surface stress associated with the underpotential deposition (upd) of bismuth on (111)-textured Au is examined, using the wafer curvature method, in acidic perchlorate and nitrate supporting electrolyte. The surface stress is correlated to Bi coverage by independent nanogravimetric measurements using an electrochemical quartz crystal nanobalance. The mass increase measured in the presence of perchlorate is consistent with the (2 x 2) and (p x square root 3)-2Bi adlayers reported in the literature. ClO(4)(-) does not play a significant role in the upd process. The complete Bi monolayer causes an overall surface stress change of about -1.4 N m(-1). We attribute this compressive stress to the formation of Bi-Au bonds which partially satisfy the bonding requirements of the Au surface atoms, thereby reducing the tensile surface stress inherent to the clean Au surface. At higher Bi coverage, an additional contribution to the compressive stress is due to the electrocompression of the (p x square root 3)-2Bi adlayer. In nitric acid electrolyte, NO(3)(-) coadsorbs with Bi over the entire upd region but has little fundamental impact on adlayer structure and stress.

Novel local free energy minimum on the Cu(001) surface

High-resolution LEED (low-energy electron diffraction) data of Cu(001) reveal an uniaxial in-plane lattice reconstruction by 1%. One-dimensional nanogrooves induced by ion bombardment involve the creation of steps that enable this reconstruction. This is the first verification of van der Merwe's prediction of step facilitated reconstruction. We confirm the predicted dependence on step orientation: <100> steps allow stress-relief and <110> steps do not, consistent with the known elastic anisotropy. Similar behavior is predicted for other nonreconstructed (001) surfaces of 3d and 4d metals.

Atomistic mechanisms for the (1×1)⇌hex surface phase transformations of Pt(100)

The atomistic mechanisms and dynamics of the (1 x 1) --> hex surface reconstruction of the clean Pt(100) and its lifting upon CO adsorption have been studied by means of both density functional theory and molecular dynamics simulations based on the modified embedded-atom method. It was found that during the surface reconstruction from the square (1 x 1) to the approximately 20% more dense (quasi)hexagonal phase, the required extra atoms are extracted from the second layer, leaving highly mobile subsurface vacancies, even in the presence of adatom islands or steps. These vacancies will, by surface diffusion, coalesce to form steps. In contrast, during the reverse process--where the hex surface reconstruction is lifted upon adsorption of CO--the roughly 20% excess surface atoms are in a collective manner ejected to form chains of adatoms. In turn, these adatoms coalesce into islands and steps by surface diffusion. A result of the two totally different mechanisms is that the reconstruction process can be concluded not to be the reverse of the deconstruction process.

Determining the adsorptive and catalytic properties of strained metal surfaces using adsorption-induced stress

We demonstrate a model for determining the adsorptive and catalytic properties of strained metal surfaces based on linear elastic theory, using first-principles calculations of CO adsorption on Au and K surfaces and CO dissociation on Ru surface. The model involves a single calculation of the adsorption-induced surface stress on the unstrained metal surface, which determines quantitatively how adsorption energy changes with external strain. The model is generally applicable to both transition- and non-transition-metal surfaces, as well as to different adsorption sites on the same surface. Extending the model to both the reactant and transition state of surface reactions should allow determination of the effect of strain on surface reactivity.

Surface-stress-induced phase transformation in metal nanowires

Several researchers have demonstrated, through experiments and analysis, that the structure and properties of nanometre-scale materials can be quite different to those of bulk materials due to the effect of surfaces. Here we use atomistic simulations to study a surface-stress-induced phase transformation in gold nanowires. The emergence of the transformation is controlled by wire size, initial orientation, boundary conditions, temperature and initial cross-sectional shape. For a <100> initial crystal orientation and wire cross-sectional area below 4 nm(2), surface stresses alone cause gold nanowires to transform from a face-centred-cubic structure to a body-centred-tetragonal structure. The transformation occurs roughly when the compressive stress caused by tensile surface-stress components in the length direction exceeds the compressive stress required to transform bulk gold to its higher energy metastable crystal structure.

Overlayer strain relief on surfaces with square symmetry: phase diagram for a 2D Frenkel-Kontorova model

Overlayers on surfaces with square symmetry exhibit a huge variety of strain relief mechanisms. I present a simple 2D Frenkel-Kontorova model and calculate the associated zero temperature phase diagram which shows a transition from overlayers with square symmetry (and possible square dislocation patterns) to hexagonal symmetry. The phase diagram includes the experimentally observed clock-rotated phase. Local density approximation calculations suggested by the model show that a clean Ni(100) surface reconstructs from a bulk-terminated to a clock-rotated structure at biaxial compressive strains above 2.5%.

Thickness induced structural transition in suspended fcc metal nanofilms

Recent experiments show that at a critical thickness, surface forces can dominate the bulk coercing suspended Au nanofilms to globally reconstruct from the (001) to the (111) orientation. Here we perform molecular dynamics simulations demonstrating that such transformations are generic to other fcc metals. This contrasts with surface reconstruction on the bulk occurring only in 5d metals. We show that this phenomenon occurs once a small energy barrier is overcome and discuss the relation of such a barrier and the critical thickness to film surface area and boundary conditions.

Dislocation emission around nanoindentations on a (001) fcc metal surface studied by scanning tunneling microscopy and atomistic simulations

We present a combined study by scanning tunneling microscopy and atomistic simulations of the emission of dissociated dislocation loops by nanoindentation on a (001) fcc surface. The latter consist of two stacking-fault ribbons bounded by Shockley partials and a stair-rod dislocation. These dissociated loops, which intersect the surface, are shown to originate from loops of interstitial character emitted along the <110> directions and are usually located at hundreds of angstroms away from the indentation point. Simulations reproduce the nucleation and glide of these dislocation loops.