Crystalline surface phases of the liquid Au-Si eutectic alloy

Oleg G. Shpyrko, Reinhard Streitel, Venkatachalapathy S.K. Balagurusamy, Alexei Yu Grigoriev, Moshe Deutsch, Benjamin M. Ocko, Mati Meron, Binhua Lin, Peter S. Pershan

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36 Scopus citations

Abstract

A two-dimensional crystalline layer is found at the surface of the liquid eutectic Au82 Si18 alloy above its melting point TM =359°C. Underlying this crystalline layer, we find a layered structure, 6-7 atomic layers thick. This surface layer undergoes a first-order solid-solid phase transition occurring at 371°C. The crystalline phase observed for T>371°C is stable up to at least 430°C. Grazing-incidence x-ray diffraction data at T>371°C imply lateral order comprising two coexisting phases of different oblique unit cells, in stark contrast with the single phase with a rectangular unit cell found for low-temperature crystalline phase, 359°C<T<371°C.

Original languageEnglish
Article number245436
JournalPhysical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
Volume76
Issue number24
DOIs
StatePublished - 28 Dec 2007

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