Nano-faceting of the Ru (112¯0) surface

Nano-faceting of Ru (112¯0) induced by NO2 is studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). The surface becomes fully faceted and covered with oxygen upon annealing the sample at T ⩾ 650 K in NO2 (10−8 Torr) and the faceted surface is stable in ultra high vacuum (UHV) for sample temperatures <850 K. The kinematical LEED simulations and STM results show that the faceted surface consists of uniform long ridges running along [0 0 0 1] direction with four facets (101¯1),(011¯1),(101¯1¯), and (011¯1¯) on the ridges.