The morphology of vicinal surfaces close to the reconstructing Au(111) and the non-reconstructing Pb(111) face were studied. Molecular-dynamics simulations with many-body potentials for gold and lead were conducted, using (534) as a test vicinal at an homologous temperature of about 0.8. It was found that, as a result of surface reconstruction, the gold vicinal surface underwent faceting, while in lead the vicinal surface remains stable. The results explained the origin of sharp edges on the equilibrium crystal shape of gold and smooth edges on lead.

Reconstruction-Induced Surface Faceting - the Contrasting Behaviour of Au(111) and Pb(111). G.Bilalbegovic, F.Ercolessi, E.Tosatti: Europhysics Letters, 1992, 18[2], 163-8