ABSTRACT
Regular arrays of extensive atomically flat regions can be produced on crystal surfaces by suitable combinations of lithographic patterning with annealing or deposition. Substrates produced in this way are of interest in a wide range of applications including epitaxial growth and fundamental surface science experiments. This chapter deals with the factors that limit the maximum dimensions of step-free terraces and describes some experiments in their use to probe the nature of surface point defects at high temperature. During annealing, a crystal surface vicinal to a low index plane will relax towards a thermodynamically stable step-terrace structure. The size of the terraces and the configuration of the steps are decided by various different factors such as the initial 'miscut' of the surface and the interactions among the steps. Under non-equilibrium sublimation or deposition conditions the general direction of motion of the steps depends on whether there is a net flux of atoms away from or onto the surface.
