Interplay between atomic and mesoscopic order on gold vicinal surfaces

Self-organization on Au 1, 1, 1 vicinal surfaces provides a unique opportunity to study the interplay between atomic and mesoscopic order. First, experimental results demonstrate the different interactions between steps and surface reconstruction on Au 1, 1, 1 vicinal surfaces. Depending on the step atomic structure, lines of discommensurations are found to be either parallel or perpendicular to the step edges. This leads to a complete understanding of the mesoscopic self-organization on theses surfaces, which drastically 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 wide range of values.