Deconstruction of the {110}-(1 x 2) missing-row surface was studied by using variable temperature scattering and recoil imaging spectrometry. Data were obtained for an amorphized surface that had been created by high-dose Ar+ sputtering at temperatures ranging from 298 to 720K. Sharp anisotropic features which had been observed in images from the ordered (1 x 2) surface at 298K changed monotonically, with increasing temperature, into broadened and more featureless images in which the first-layer blocking arcs shifted to very low exit-angle values. The basic features of the (1 x 2) missing-row structure were still observed even near to 700K; where 3-dimensional roughening began. These features were completely obliterated from sputtered amorphized surfaces; indicating a surface that was dominated by 3-dimensional roughening. Ion-trajectory simulations were used to study the effects of vibrational amplitude, and conversion to a (1 x 1) structure. The results confirmed the marked stability of the (1 x 2) missing-row structure up to the roughening temperature, and cast doubt on earlier proposals of order-disorder transition via lattice-gas formation. The findings were in agreement with more recent models in which roughening induced a simultaneous deconstruction transition.

Deconstruction of the Au{110}-(1 x 2) Surface C.Höfner, J.W.Rabalais: Physical Review B, 1998, 58[15], 9990-7