Surface-melting induced faceting of aluminium

Medium-energy ion scattering measurements have been used to study the temperature dependent behaviour of aluminium surfaces with surface orientations in the (110) zone. The ion-scattering measurements show that surface-melting induced faceting occurs between the melting (110) and the non-melting (111) orientations. The dry and melted facet orientations Θ_d and Θ_m have been determined up to 0.3 K from the bulk melting point. Close to the melting point these orientations are almost independent of temperature, and amount to Θ_d = 7 ± 2° and Θ_m = 29 ± 2° with respect to the (111) plane.