The role of stress at solid surfaces under vacuum and in contact with a liquid electrolyte, with regard to reconstruction, epitaxial growth and self-organization or stabilization of mesoscopic structures was critically reviewed. Starting from the definitions of surface stress, the status of the then-current understanding of the physical origin of the surface stress upon clean surfaces and of changes in stress upon the deposition of adsorbates or foreign material was considered. Changes in the surface stress could be measured by using the cantilever bending method. The relevant equations for the elastic bending were derived. It was shown that previous data analyses required revision. Several examples were presented in which the surface stress was either the driving force for reconstruction of the surface, or at least facilitated reconstruction. The traditional concept of the critical thickness of a hetero-epitaxially grown pseudomorphic film was based upon consideration of the elastic strain energy caused by misfit between the film and substrate lattices. It was shown that the interface stress contributed significantly to the elastic energy and hence to the stability or instability of pseudomorphic thin films. Inhomogeneous surface stresses could give rise to self-organization of mesoscopic structures on surfaces.

The Role of Surface Stress in Reconstruction, Epitaxial Growth and Stabilization of Mesoscopic Structures. H.Ibach: Surface Science Reports, 1997, 29[5-6], 195-263