Electronic states at vicinal surfaces

Vicinal noble metal surfaces with regular arrays of steps and terraces are very convenient model systems to test the electronic properties of lateral nanostructures. Using angle-resolved photoemission with synchrotron radiation we thoroughly characterize electronic states and wavefunctions in a variety of vicinal Cu(111) and Au(111) surfaces. By tuning the terrace width, we can observe the fundamental transition from arrays of non-interacting nano-objects (terraces), where electron states are confined, to lateral coupling between terraces, which leads to superlattice states.