Abstract
The temperature-driven structural surface phase transition of Pb/Si (111) nanoislands with a variable-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) was studied. It was observed that the transition temperature was decreased with the decreasing island and domain size. It was also observed that the boundaries of the nanoislands influenced the transition. It was shown that the examination of the change in the interior structure of the nanoislands near the transition temperature could allow the imaging of the effects of the thermal fluctuations.