Self-assembled lateral multilayers from thin film alloys of immiscible metals

Thin films consisting of alloys of immiscible metals display a unique form of compositional ordering not observed in the bulk. Utilizing scanning tunneling microscopy and low energy electron diffraction, we have examined thin films of CoηAg1-η and FeηAg1-η grown on Mo(110) surfaces. Both of these systems are observed to form a compositionally ordered alloy of alternating, contiguous stripes of Co (or Fe) and Ag with the long axis of the stripe coinciding with the Mo[001] direction in the plane of the substrate. The average stripe periodicities are on the order of 2.0 to 2.5 nm along the Mo[¯110] (perpendicular to the stripes) direction depending on film stoichiometry. © 1998 The American Physical Society.