Scanning tunneling microscopy was used to determine the equilibrium step st
ructures and step formation energies on monohydride-terminated silicon surf
aces for the complete range of (001)-terrace-plus-step orientations. (001)
to (114). Compared with the clean surfaces, hydrogen termination alters the
atomic-scale step-edge structure and, in many cases, causes large-scale ch
anges in the surface morphology. The structural modifications result direct
ly from a change in the relative energies of the possible single- and doubl
e-layer step configurations. These results should prove useful for developi
ng high-fidelity models of film growth and surface processing on silicon su
bstrates in complex gaseous environments. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Sc
ience B.V.