the role of oxygen on surface reconstruction and growth of (001) vanadium was investigated. By using electron diffraction, in-plane lattice spacing oscillations were observed during the layer by layer vanadium growth. The amplitude of these oscillations which were due to elastic relaxation at the edges of the two-dimensional growing islands, were sometimes very large and thus could not be explained by size effects in homo-epitaxy. It was observed that the oscillation amplitude was clearly correlated with the presence of oxygen on the initial surface, as checked by Auger spectroscopy. As the presence of oxygen induced surface reconstructions, the electron diffraction experiments also permitted the demonstration that these superstructures were compressed when compared with an oxygen-free (1 x 1) surface. The peculiar morphology of these surface reconstructions, investigated by scanning tunnelling microscopy, could be explained by this compressive strain.

Influence of Oxygen on Surface Reconstruction and Growth of (001) Vanadium. P.Turban, F.Dulot, B.Kierren, S.Andrieu: Applied Surface Science, 2001, 177[4], 282-6