Statistical-thermodynamic theory of ordering in a binary film deposited on the surface of a monocrystal

The ordering of a binary monolayer deposited on the surface of a monocrystal is studied. In the case when the structure of the film is equivalent to that of the crystal surface, the ordering in the film is qualitatively similar to that in the bulk of the sample: When the ordering energy is positive there exists an order-disorder phase transition at a certain temperature and for a certain concentration interval. If the structure of the film is different from the structure of the surface, then the film is ordered at all temperatures, independently of the sign of the ordering energy. In this case, in addition to the equilibrium ordered state in the region T < T_* (T_* is a certain temperature which is determined by the composition of the alloy and by the magnitude of the energy shift of the atoms of the film in the field of the substrate), there exists a metastable ordered state in which there is a jump-like change in the ordering at the point T_*, analogous to a first-order phase transition. Possible methods of experimental study of the ordering in films are discussed.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 5, pp. 53–57, May, 1987.