Abstract
We report experimental results on an insulator-on-metal system which is inherently unstable against lateral pattern formation on the nanometer scale. NaCl deposition on Cu(211) at substrate temperatures leads to faceting into (311) and (111) facets and selective NaCl growth on (311) facets only, thereby creating alternating stripes of bare Cu and NaCl-covered areas. The mesoscopic restructuring process is brought about by (1) the tendency to form (100)-terminated NaCl layers, (2) epitaxial matching between NaCl(100) and Cu(311), and (3) sufficient mobility of the Cu substrate surface.
- Received 11 August 1999
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.84.123
©2000 American Physical Society