The thermal evolution of the reconstructed and step structure of (111) surfaces, which were misoriented by 6 or 10º towards the [1¯21] and [2¯1¯1] directions, was monitored by means of low-energy electron diffraction. On all of the surfaces, except the one that was misoriented by 10º towards [1¯21], a weak 2 x 2 ordering occurred within the same temperature range (300 to 600C) as that for a flat (111) surface. The full c(2 x 8) reconstruction of the flat surface did not occur, or appeared only weakly, on the vicinal surfaces. At high temperatures, all of the vicinal surfaces contained monolayer-height steps with a density that was consistent with the miscut angle. These monolayer-height steps were stable at room temperature, for misorientation angles of up to 9.8º, on surfaces which were misoriented towards the [2¯1¯1] direction. For miscuts of between 9.8 and 11.4º, these surfaces faceted so as to expose a 5 x 2 reconstructed (322) facet at about 440C. Surfaces which were misoriented towards the [1¯21] direction underwent a step-doubling transition over the same temperature range within which 2 x 2 ordering occurred. The low-temperature structure consisted of a mixture of steps with single-layer and double-layer heights.

T.M.Jung, R.J.Phaneuf, E.D.Williams: Surface Science, 1991, 254[1-3], 235-50