Dimer adsorption on square surfaces with first- and second-neighbor interactions

Abstract

Dimer adsorption on surfaces simulates the adsorption of particles that bind onto two nearest-neighbor sites. In 1993, we constructed a transfer matrix (T-matrix) for the study of dimers on stepped surfaces, consisting of M-sites wide square terraces, considering only first-neighbor interaction energies. Here, we consider a more realistic model by including both first- and second-neighbor interaction energies, V and W. The non-trivial construction of the T-matrix to include second-neighbor interactions is used to obtain the low-temperature energy phase diagrams of the dimer system for any M , when first-neighbors are attractive, and for values of M<7 when first-neighbors are repulsive. New crystallization patterns and phases are observed and extrapolated to infinite M. Monte Carlo simulation techniques confirm our T-matrix results, but the T-matrix method is found to be computationally more efficient and more precise. However, Monte Carlo parallel tempering simulations combined with finite-size scaling, while limited in precision, are more efficient to obtain the critical temperature of the various order–disorder transitions as a function of W/|V|, from the study of the heat capacity and the order parameter as functions of temperature. We also discuss the relevance of these results to experiments.