STEP ENERGIES AND ENTROPIES, A COMPARISON OF EXPERIMENT AND THEORY

Various sets of experimental data on the temperature and orientation dependence of the surface free energy of fee metals are evaluated to yield step free energies and an average value of the step entropy. The experimental step energies are then extrapolated to 0 K and compared with theoretical values. It is found that both, experimental and theoretical step energies, reduced by their different step heights, correlate well with the corresponding surface free energies of these materials at 0 K. This correlation can be used to estimate step energies for fee metals that so far have not been investigated in this respect.