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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 85 » Issue 25
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 5376–5379 (2000)

Bulk Terminated NaCl(111) on Aluminum: A Polar Surface of an Ionic Crystal?

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W. Hebenstreit1,*, M. Schmid1, J. Redinger2,4, R. Podloucky3,4, and P. Varga1
1Institut für Allgemeine Physik, Vienna University of Technology, A-1040 Wien, Austria
2Institut für Technische Elektrochemie, Vienna University of Technology, A-1060 Wien, Austria
3Institut für Physikalische Chemie, University of Vienna, A-1090 Wien, Austria
4Center for Computational Materials Science, Vienna University of Technology, A-1060 Wien, Austria

Received 21 August 2000; published in the issue dated 18 December 2000

Atomically resolved scanning tunneling microscopy reveals the existence of triangular (111) bulk terminated NaCl islands. The islands can be grown by subsequent adsorption of Na and Cl2 on Al(111) and Al(100) or by conversion of stoichiometric NaCl(100) islands to NaCl(111) via additional Na adsorption. The NaCl(111) islands have Na-Cl-Na sandwich structure. Ab initio calculations of the electronic structure of these islands show that each of the Na atoms carries half a positive elementary charge, leaving the islands neutral and explaining the existence of an otherwise unstable surface.

© 2000 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.5376
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.5376
PACS:
68.55.-a, 61.16.Ch, 68.35.Md, 73.20.At

*Present address: Department of Physics, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118.

 
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