Report on Au(111) vicinal surfaces, either regularly stepped surfaces, reconstructed or not, or periodically faceted surfaces, which were well suited to be used as templates for organized growth of clusters. Angles of misorientation with respect to the (111) plane lie between 1° and 12° and two opposite azimuths were considered: (i) [2¯1¯1], that led to steps with {100} microfacets, and (ii) [¯211], that led to steps with {111} microfacets. The behaviour of the Au(111) reconstruction in the vicinity of steps depends drastically on the step microstructure, and this was a key point for understanding the various periodic morphologies existing on Au(111) vicinal surfaces. The interaction between the reconstruction and the close-packed steps of the Au(111) surface was interpreted in terms of the relative stability of both types of step. Self-organized morphologies between 10 and 100nm were interpreted within the framework of elastic theory and by pointing out the crucial role played by the atomic boundary energy term. The microscopic origin of faceting was discussed, proposing two different models depending on each azimuth. The use of Au(111) vicinal surfaces as templates for growing long range ordered nanostructures was then illustrated. Examples were given in the case of cobalt growth.

Self-Ordering of Au(111) Vicinal Surfaces and Application to Nanostructure Organized Growth. S.Rousset, V.Repain, G.Baudot, Y.Garreau, J.Lecoeur: Journal of Physics - Condensed Matter, 2003, 15[47], S3363-92