Theory of Concentrational Profile at the Surface of a Decomposing Binary Alloy

In the self-consistent-field approximation, a statistical theory is constructed for the atomic distribution in the near-surface region of a binary alloy which is able to disintegrate from the atomically smooth free surface of the crystal. The form of the surface-segregation functions of the components is found, in closed form, taking the relaxation of the coordination energies and the atomicinteraction energies at the surface into account. The possibility of the existence of metastable nonmonotonic concentrational profiles at the crystal surface is demonstrated.