THICKNESS OF SURFACE LAYER AND ATOMIC VOLUME OF METAL
N this paper, a new model of the surface layer of atomically smooth metals is proposed. The experimental value for atomically smooth surfaces of gold crystals, obtained in the geometry of sliding X-rays, is 2.4 nm. This practically coincides with the value obtained in our model (2.3 nm). In the present work, it is shown that the near-surface layer of an atomically smooth metal consists of two regions, d (I) and d (II). In the first region, the metal surface is reconstructed or relaxed; it affects several atomic layers (3 atomic layers for gold). In the second region, the size dependence of the physical properties of the metal (mechanical, electrical, magnetic, and others) is observed. When h=d, a structural phase transition occurs. The thickness of the surface layer is determined by only one parameter of the metal - its atomic volume, which periodically changes in accordance with the periodic law by D. I. Mendeleev.