Kink ordering and organized growth of Co clusters on a stepped Au(111) surface: A combined grazing-incidence x-ray scattering and STM study

The surface topography of a kinked vicinal surface of Au(111) is characterized by in situ grazing incidence small-angle x-ray scattering and scanning tunneling microscopy. The step edges exhibit a long range ordering of kinks which is attributed to the repulsive interaction between the kinks and the surface reconstruction. The kink size and ordering are revealed by three-dimensional measurements of the reciprocal space close to the origin and by a detailed analysis performed in the framework of the ideal paracrystal model. The growth of Co clusters on this surface gives rise to a long-range ordering induced by the surface reconstruction and revealed by the interferences between the x-ray waves scattered by the steps and/or kinks and by the Co clusters. These results are completed with in situ grazing incidence x-ray diffraction measurements, providing a crystallographic description of the Co clusters.