MESOSCOPIC SELF-ORGANIZATION INDUCED BY INTRINSIC SURFACE STRESS ON PT(110)

Scanning tunneling microscopy revealed a quasi-one-dimensional periodi c island structure on the clean Pt(110)-(1 x 2) surface. The period is about 1500 Angstrom. As indicated by several test experiments, the st ructure corresponds to the thermodynamic equilibrium. This spontaneous island formation is attributed to mesoscopic self-organization induce d by the intrinsic surface stress. It is demonstrated that such mesosc opic structures allow determination of the absolute surface stress. Th e present result agrees with ab initio calculations.