Related papers: Step Patterns on Vicinal Reconstructed Surfaces
Networks of steps, seen in STM observations of vicinal surfaces on Au and Pt (110), are analyzed. A simple model is introduced for the calculation of the free energy of the networks as function of the slope parameters, valid at low step…
The energetics of transition and noble metal (Rh, Pd, Cu) vicinal surfaces, i.e., surface energy, step energy, kink energy and electronic interactions between steps, is studied at 0K from electronic structure calculations in the…
The vicinal Si(111) surface, inclined towards the [-1-12] direction, was investigated by scanning tunnelling microscopy and spot profile analysing low energy electron diffraction. It has been established that the surface, consisting of…
We demonstrate that annealing of a vicinal Si(111) surface at about 800 C with a direct current in the direction that ascends the kinks enhances the formation of atomically straight step edges over micrometer lengths, while annealing with a…
We have theoretically studied the stability and reconstruction of (111) surfaces of Au, Pt, and Cu. We have calculated the surface energy, surface stress, interatomic force constants, and other relevant quantities by ab initio electronic…
The low-index surfaces of Au and Pt all tend to reconstruct, a fact that is of key importance in many nanostructure, catalytic, and electrochemical applications. Remarkably, some significant questions regarding their structural energies…
With a Si(001) vicinal surface in mind, we study step wandering instability on a vicinal surface with an anisotropic surface diffusion whose orientation dependence alternates on each consecutive terrace. In a conserved system step wandering…
This paper investigates faceting mechanisms induced by electromigration in the regime where atomic steps are transparent. For this purpose we study several vicinal orientations by means of in-situ (optical diffraction, electronic…
A miscut (vicinal) crystal surface can be regarded as an array of meandering but non-crossing steps. Interactions between the steps are shown to induce a faceting transition of the surface between a homogeneous Luttinger liquid state and a…
The effects of plateau width and step edge kinking on carbon monoxide (CO)-induced restructuring of platinum surfaces were explored using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Platinum crystals displaying four different vicinal surfaces…
We report on density functional total energy calculations of the step formation and interaction energies for vicinal TaC(001) surfaces. Our calculations show that double and triple-height steps are favored over single-height steps for a…
Well-ordered stepped semiconductor surfaces attract intense attention owing to the regular arrangements of their atomic steps that makes them perfect templates for the growth of one- dimensional systems, e.g. nanowires. Here, we report on…
We report for the first time the observation of bunching of monoatomic steps on vicinal W(110) surfaces induced by step up or step down currents across the steps. Measurements reveal that the size scaling exponent {\gamma}, connecting the…
Entropy effects substantially modify the growth of self-assembled Ge nanostructures on vicinal Si (001) surfaces. As shown by variable temperature scanning tunneling microscopy, this leads to new types of one dimensional nanostructures that…
We discuss the possibility that, besides roughening, a vicinal surface could display preroughening (PR), and consider the possible mechanisms for its promotion. Within the framework of a terrace-step-kink model, it turns out that a PR…
Nanoscale step structures have attracted recent interest owing to their importance in both fundamental and applied research, for example in adsorption, in catalysis, and in directing nanowire growth. Here, we used a template-stripping…
Using a Monte Carlo method on a lattice model of a vicinal surface with short-range step-step attraction, we show that, at low temperature and near equilibrium, there is an inhibition of the motion of macro-steps. This inhibition leads to a…
Step meandering due to a deterministic morphological instability on vicinal surfaces during growth is studied. We investigate nonlinear dynamics of a step model with asymmetric step kinetics, terrace and line diffusion, by means of a…
The steps at the crystal surfaces could be transparent for the migrating adatoms. In the case of significant transparency the velocity of a given step in a given moment is affected by detachment of atoms from rather distant steps in rather…
This is a review of recent theoretical work on complex dynamical behavior of steps on crystal surfaces. The first part of the article is devoted to the electromigration-driven motion of islands and voids, and the second part addresses step…