TY - JOUR
T1 - Mesoscopic scanning tunneling and atomic force microscopy study of the misfit-layer compounds (LaSe)xNbSe2 and (PbSe)xNbSe2
AU - Antoranz Contera, Sonia
AU - Yoshinobu, Tatsuo
AU - Iwasaki, Hiroshi
AU - Kisoda, Kenji
N1 - Funding Information:
We acknowledge the support of ANPCyT , Argentina; YerPhI , Armenia; ARC , Australia; BMWF , Austria; ANAS , Azerbaijan; SSTC , Belarus; CNPq and FAPESP , Brazil; NSERC , NRC and CFI , Canada; CERN ; CONICYT , Chile; CAS , MOST and NSFC , China; COLCIENCIAS , Colombia; MSMT CR , MPO CR and VSC CR , Czech Republic; DNRF , DNSRC and Lundbeck Foundation , Denmark; ARTEMIS , European Union; IN2P3-CNRS , CEA-DSM/IRFU , France; GNAS , Georgia; BMBF , DFG , HGF , MPG and AvH Foundation , Germany; GSRT , Greece; ISF , MINERVA , GIF , DIP and Benoziyo Center , Israel; INFN , Italy; MEXT and JSPS , Japan; CNRST , Morocco; FOM and NWO , Netherlands; RCN , Norway; MNiSW , Poland; GRICES and FCT , Portugal; MERYS (MECTS) , Romania; MES of Russia and ROSATOM , Russian Federation; JINR ; MSTD , Serbia; MSSR , Slovakia; ARRS and MVZT , Slovenia; DST/NRF , South Africa; MICINN , Spain; SRC and Wallenberg Foundation , Sweden; SER , SNSF and Cantons of Bern and Geneva , Switzerland; NSC , Taiwan; TAEK , Turkey; STFC , the Royal Society and Leverhulme Trust , United Kingdom; DOE and NSF , United States of America.
PY - 1999/11/1
Y1 - 1999/11/1
N2 - The surface of the misfit-layer compounds (LaSe)xNbSe2 and (PbSe)xNbSe2 is studied by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), in air and nitrogen, in the range of 0.5 to 10 μm2. The cleaved surface of (LaSe)xNbSe2 presents flat non-stepped surfaces which crack and react. Inner layers do not appear to crack. The dynamic process taking place in the superficial layers produces pieces which arrange in a self-similar way and eventually gives rise to discrete islands which self-organize periodically in one direction. On the other hand, the cleaved surface of (PbSe)xNbSe2 is stepped and shows no reactivity. The influence of the cleavage, the strain, the strength of the interlayer and intralayer bonding, and the misfit of the compounds are discussed as reasons for the mesoscopic behaviour of these materials.
AB - The surface of the misfit-layer compounds (LaSe)xNbSe2 and (PbSe)xNbSe2 is studied by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), in air and nitrogen, in the range of 0.5 to 10 μm2. The cleaved surface of (LaSe)xNbSe2 presents flat non-stepped surfaces which crack and react. Inner layers do not appear to crack. The dynamic process taking place in the superficial layers produces pieces which arrange in a self-similar way and eventually gives rise to discrete islands which self-organize periodically in one direction. On the other hand, the cleaved surface of (PbSe)xNbSe2 is stepped and shows no reactivity. The influence of the cleavage, the strain, the strength of the interlayer and intralayer bonding, and the misfit of the compounds are discussed as reasons for the mesoscopic behaviour of these materials.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0039-6028(99)00858-4
DO - 10.1016/S0039-6028(99)00858-4
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0342656666
SN - 0039-6028
VL - 441
SP - 384
EP - 390
JO - Surface Science
JF - Surface Science
IS - 2-3
ER -