Extending holographic LEED to ordered small unit cell superstructures

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that holographic LEED can be extended to determine the local atomic geometry of small superstructures, such as p(2x2), even with substrate reconstructions, building on previous successes with larger structures.

Contribution

The authors extend holographic LEED methodology to analyze small superstructures, enabling direct local geometry recovery in more complex surface reconstructions.

Findings

Successful application of holographic LEED to p(2x2) superstructures

Ability to analyze structures with substrate reconstructions

Enhanced understanding of surface atomic arrangements

Abstract

Following on the success of the recent application of holographic LEED to the determination of the 3D atomic geometry of Si adatoms on a SiC(111) p(3x3) surface, which enabled that structure to be solved, we show in this paper that a similar technique allows the direct recovery of the local geometry of adsorbates forming superstructures as small as p(2x2), even in the presence of a local substrate reconstruction.