Self-organization of stressed surfaces: The role of local relaxations

We investigate, in a very simple form and using a continuum approach, the i nfluence of the Frenkel-Kontorova mechanism on the self-organization of str essed chemisorbed layers on an anisotropic surface. The long-range substrat e-mediated interactions are still the driving force for self-organization b ut short-range relaxations of the adsorbate domains play an important role. When the adsorbate film includes dislocations at high coverage, special va lues of the adsorbate domain size are favored. Surprisingly, short-range re laxations are still important for registered adsorbate films leading to mod ifications of Marchenko predictions.