Adsorbate-geometry specific subsurface relaxation in the CO/Pt(111) system

The study revealed a new type of substrate relaxation by the surface X-ray scattering study of CO adsorption of Pt(111), in which different layer expansions and in-plane rotations occur for the Pt atoms under the near-top-site and the near-bridge-site CO molecules. It concluded that subsurface atoms could move collectively forming a pattern on a nanometer scale determined by the unit cell of an adlayer.