The Pt(997) surface when heated in oxygen environment (5 x 10−9 to 10−7mbar) appeared to reconstruct at 600 to 900K. The reconstructed surface was characterized by steps of double height. The dynamics of the double step formation and destruction was studied by monitoring the intensity of a fractional order He-diffraction peak, which was characteristic of the reconstructed structure. Oxygen chemisorbed at the double height steps with a binding energy of about 80kcal/mol plays a determining role in the build-up and stabilization of these steps. The rate determining factor of build-up and decay of the reconstructed surface appeared to be, at low temperatures, the self-diffusion of Pt atoms and, at high temperatures, the availability of chemisorbed oxygen.

He-Beam Scattering Study of the Dynamics of Oxygen Induced Reconstruction of the Pt(997) Surface I - Dynamics of Double Step Formation and Destruction. G.Comsa, G.Mechtersheimer, B.Poelsema: Surface Science, 1982, 119[2-3], 159-71