Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we study the effect of the so-called herringbone reconstruction of Au(111) on the dispersion of the free-electron-like surface state. While earlier ARPES investigations have only reported a minor interplay of the surface state dispersion and the underlying reconstruction, we show that the uniaxial lattice distortion and the thereby changed reciprocal lattice for the first atomic layer lead to distinct surface state dispersions around the first-order reciprocal lattice points of the three domains, creating a constant energy surface resembling a trefoil knot. The findings resolve the long-standing discrepancy between, on one hand, the reconstruction-induced surface state modifications reported in scanning tunneling microscopy and first principles calculations and, on the other hand, their conspicuous absence in photoemission.

• Received 18 May 2016
• Revised 12 October 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.94.201401