Scanning tunneling microscopy was used to obtain atomically resolved images of the lanthanum-terminated (100) surface. The surface atoms were observed to occupy a square lattice with a La-La separation of 4Å. A weak corrugation between La atoms was observed, which was consistent with the delocalized metal-like nature of the states near to the Fermi level. On a larger scale, the surface was composed of (100) terraces with an average width of 125Å, separated by steps which were one unit cell high. Approximately 10% of the La sites on the terraces were vacant.

Atomically Resolved Surface Structure of LaB6(100). Ozcomert, J.S., Trenary, M.: Surface Science, 1992, 265[1-3], L227-32