ИСТИНА

This thesis deals with a combined experimental and theoretical study of various low-dimensional systems on surfaces. The main experimental technique that we have used in this thesis is scanning tunneling microscopy. Scanning tunneling microscopy not only allows to image surfaces with atomic resolution, but it also encompasses several spectroscopic modes that provide detailed information on the electronic band structure. The results obtained in our experiments are compared with state-of-the-art density functional theory calculations. The thesis can be divided in two parts: the first part deals with one-dimensional systems. The systems that we have studied are self-organizing iridium and gold atom chains on germanium surfaces. In the second part of the thesis we focus our attention on two-dimensional systems.