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By combined investigation of scanning tunneling microscopy and synchrotron core-level photoemission spectroscopy on the structural and chemical evolution at the initial stage of Ge adsorption on Si(114)-2 × 1, it has been observed that one-dimensional (1D) sawtooth-like nanostructures composed of (113) and (117) facets and 1D trenches adjacent to the (113) facets are readily formed without any wetting layer. Due to the absence of chain structures on the reconstructed Si(114)-2 × 1, enhanced Ge interdiffusion detected from Ge/Si(5 5 12)-2 × 1 has not been found. Instead, Si atoms originating from etched surfaces and arriving Ge atoms form the alloy facets with Ge-rich surfaces. These experimental results prove that, if the direction of the Ge overlayer corresponding to that of the substrate is unstable like the present case, the arriving atoms prefer to form facets covered with the species of lower surface free energies rather than a uniform wetting layer.

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