Theoretical calculations, involving a 2-dimensional Frenkel-Kontorova model, were applied to the hetero-epitaxial system of Cu on Ru(10•0). The experimentally observed variation in structure with layer thickness was simulated by scaling the adatom-adatom interaction. It was found that the minimum energy configurations were in very good agreement with recent scanning tunnelling microscopy results which had revealed 4 distinct structures as a function of thickness. These metal-on-metal films represented a new form, of the Frenkel-Kontorova model, which complemented previous investigations of rare gas adsorption on graphite.

J.C.Hamilton, S.M.Foiles: Physical Review Letters, 1995, 75[5], 882-5