The instability of vicinal electrode surfaces against step bunching I: Experiment

Using electrochemical STM we have studied the stability of arrays of parallel, single atom height steps on vicinal Ag(1 1 1) electrodes in electrolyte. We find that the steps for Ag(1 1 1) electrodes are unstable and form first double-steps and later multiple steps, separated by wide, flat terraces. In this paper denoted as “I: Experiment” we deal with the experimental aspects whereas theoretical aspects are discussed in the following paper “II: Theory”.