Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 156102 (2007) [4 pages]Adatom-Adatom Interaction Mediated by an Underlying Surface Phase TransitionReceived 18 May 2006; published 13 April 2007 Low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy measurements on the adsorption of single Pb adatoms on Si(111)-(√3×√3)-Pb surfaces reveal the vertical displacement patterns induced on the substrate by these Pb adatoms as well as a novel adatom-adatom interaction. The origin of both can be traced back to the (√3×√3)↔(3×3) phase transition taking place at lower temperatures. A Landau-like approach explains the displacement patterns as due to the corresponding order parameter and shows that the vicinity of a surface phase transition gives rise to a nonmonotonic adatom-adatom interaction. © 2007 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.156102
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.156102
PACS:
68.35.Rh, 68.37.Ef, 68.43.Jk
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