Structure of the (111) surface of bismuth:: LEED analysis and first-principles calculations -: art. no. 085410

The surface structure of Bi(111) was investigated by low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) intensity analysis for temperatures between 140 and 313 K and by first-principles calculations. The diffraction pattern reveals a (1x1) surface structure and LEED intensity versus energy simulations confirm that the crystal is terminated with a Bi bilayer. Excellent agreement is obtained between the calculated and measured diffraction intensities in the whole temperature range. The first interlayer spacing shows no significant relaxation at any temperature while the second interlayer spacing expands slightly. The Debye temperatures deduced from the optimized atomic vibrational amplitudes for the two topmost layers are found to be significantly lower than in the bulk. The experimental results for the relaxations agree well with those of our first-principles calculation.