SURFACE COMPOSITION AND SURFACE CLUSTER SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF CU-NI ALLOYS VIA A MONTE-CARLO METHOD

A Monte Carlo simulation of the Cu-Ni alloy surface was performed in order to determine surface composition and surface atom arrangement as a function of bulk composition, surface crystallographic orientation and temperature. The highly surface active nature of copper demonstrated in previous studies was confirmed, and surface nickel atom arrangement was shown to be a sensitive function of first-layer composition and of crystallographic orientation. Configurational energies were computed in a manner which accounted for the variation of atom-atom bond energies with coordination number. The effect of this method of computation on first-layer composition and composition profile was shown to be significant. Based upon the computed composition profile, an estimate of surface" composition as it would be determined by Auger electron spectroscopy was made and was shown to be in reasonable agreement with published experimental results. © 1978."