Abstract
A model of a monolayer of atoms adsorbed on a crystalline surface is discussed. When the initial incommensurability, , between a reciprocal lattice vector of the monolayer and one of the substrate is small, the monolayer has a one-dimensional superstructure with period depending on . For the state is incommensurate; decreases and vanishes at a given by the elastic moduli of the monolayer. The spectrum of small oscillations has two acoustic branches, one vanishing at the phase transition.
- Received 23 October 1978
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.42.65
©1979 American Physical Society