Surface ternary alloys of (Cu,Au)/Ni(110)

The initial stages and trends in the process of surface alloy formation for copper and gold deposited on an Ni(110) substrate have been investigated by means of a simple theoretical modeling approach. The Bozzolo–Ferrante–Smith (BFS) method for alloys is used to compute the energetics of low-coverage surface alloys. Basic features observed in BFS modeling of (Cu,Au)/Ni(110) surface alloy formation include CuAu chains in the surface as well as structure characteristic of the Au/Ni(110) and Cu/Ni(110) cases.