SURFACE MORPHOLOGIES - EQUILIBRIA AND TRANSIENT STATES

The relationship between the orientation dependent surface free energy and the surface morphology of crystalline materials is the main subje ct of this study, Small particles under equilibrium conditions as well as periodic profiles in transient states are considered. A second rel ationship of interest is that between step energy, step interaction en ergy and the orientation dependent surface free energy. Periodic surfa ce profiles as transient states offer the possibility of measuring kin etic changes that provide information on the products mobility x energ y while the shape alone may also be used to extract energy parameters. The rate of kinetic changes of profiles on vicinal surfaces depends s ensitively on the orientation of the profile relative to the miscut di rection. This has recently been demonstrated for vicinal Au crystals.