Scanning tunnelling microscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy and low-energy electron diffraction were used to study various tungsten- and carbon-terminated surface reconstructions on the sputtered/annealed WC(00•1) surface. The tungsten-terminated surface encompassed a (√7 x √7)R19° W-trimer structure, a (√3 x √7) reconstruction representing a transition structure from the (√7 x √7)R19° reconstruction to a (6 x 1) phase which consisted of a quadratic W overlayer on the first close-packed carbidic carbon layer. The carbon terminated WC(00•1) surface consisted of a single graphitic carbon layer on top of the (6 x 1) structure.

Surface Structures on sputtered/annealed WC(0001). M.Göthelid, E.Janin: Journal of Physics - Condensed Matter, 1999, 12[6], 773-82