The unifying theme of our research is the influence of crystallographic steps on chemical properties such as gas adsorption and reaction. Due to the reduced coordination of step edge atoms, steps can act as chemisorption traps or provide more active sites for making and breaking chemical bonds.
Steps can also serve as sources and sinks of substrate adatoms.
These mobile adatoms can then act as itinerant reaction centers or form new complexes Steps form natural domain boundaries between ordered overlayer phases. Since reactions often occur preferentially along these domain boundaries, steps can facilitate reaction. Steps form natural barriers to surface diffusion, confining adsorbates and reaction to a single terrace. By incorporating both imaging and spectroscopic methods, we can address surface chemical systems with substantial chemical complexity. Systems of current interest include Oxidation Reactions on Silver Surfaces.