STM Study on the (100) Surface of the Ag-In-Yb 1/1 Cubic Approximant

C. Cuia,b, H. Sharmac, P.J. Nugentc, M. Shimodad and An Pang Tsaib, d aDepartment of Physics, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China bInstitute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan cSurface Science Research Centre and Department of Physics, The University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK dNational Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047, Japan

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Scanning tunneling microscopy studies have revealed a periodic step-terrace structure in the (100) surface of the Ag-In-Yb 1/1 cubic approximant. The step height between the large terraces is about 0.73 nm, approximately one-half of the lattice constant, which is consistent with the bcc-like crystalline structure of this crystal. Two small terraces are observed between the adjacent large terraces. High-resolution STM images of the large terrace exhibit a square lattice of protrusions with a lattice constant of about 1.55 nm, which is consistent with the bulk lattice constant. The scanning tunneling microscopy results suggest that the large terraces are associated with the planes that intersect the centers of rhombic triacontrahedral clusters (the building unit of the crystal) and show the highest atomic density along the [100] axis. It is highly likely that the small terraces are related to moderate atomic density planes and are less stable than the large terraces.

DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.126.577 PACS numbers: 61.44.Br, 68.35.B-, 68.37.Ef