2 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)
View submission: STM image (Pt(110)−(1×2) surface)
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Comment by [deleted] at 17/08/2023 at 22:57 UTC*
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
It's a platinum surface (oriented (110) Miller index convention) which shows a reconstruction, basically at the surface, bonds and the bulk symmetry is broken, to lower the energy atoms adopt a different kind of symettry.
Here it is 2x1 because the unit cell at the surface is twice the unit cell of the bulk material, which explains why you see rectangular shapes, there are much more complex reconstructions like the 7x7 reconstruction of silicon.
And yeah I do agree, to me the infinitely small fascinates me more. There are so much things we do not understand. I like a lot also to work with atoms, surfaces, electrons, and in condensed matter you delve also a bit into chemistry. In fact many great condensed matter physicists were also chemists : Walter Kohn, Irving Langmuir etc.
Comment by ExcuseAdept827 at 17/08/2023 at 22:58 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Source? (Speaking as someone that looks in the microscope and not the telescope!)