Interplay between atomic and mesoscopic order on gold vicinal surfaces

Self-organization on Au(1, 1, 1) vicinal surfaces provides a unique opportu nity to study the interplay between atomic and mesoscopic order. First, exp erimental results demonstrate the different interactions between steps and surface reconstruction on Au(1, 1, 1) vicinal surfaces. Depending on the st ep atomic structure, lines of discommensurations are found to be either par allel or perpendicular to the step edges. This leads to a complete understa nding of the mesoscopic self-organization on theses surfaces, which drastic ally depends on the step structure. This points out the crucial role played by the edge energy cost which can monitor the faceting periodicity in a wi de range of values.