Surface Stress of Stepped Chiral Metal Surfaces

The use of surface stress as a physical probe for examining chiral effects in surfaces is proposed. First-principles calculations of the surface stress in stepped achiral and chiral bcc metal surfaces (Fe, Mo, and W) are presented. When no mirror symmetry is present, principal stress orientations are unconstrained; nevertheless, we find that the stress is smoothly varying along a suitably chosen stereographic zone of surfaces. Stress ellipses for Fe differ qualitatively from those of Mo and W, suggesting that its surface stress has a distinct origin.