A SEXAFS evidence for an incommensurate xenon overlayer on a Cu(111) surface

Xenon adsorption (monolayer and multilayer range) has been studied by SEXAFS on a Cu(111) surface. At temperatures ranging between 18 and 47 K, the Xe monolayer has been shown to be incommensurate because (i) the Xe Xe spacing differs from the distance between easy three-fold-hollow sites (a Cu √3) and (ii) the coefficient of thermal expansion of the Xe adlayer is much higher than that of copper.