Two alkali halide adsorbate-substrate systems were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) working in contact mode. Adsorbate film orientation relative to the substrate was determined from the arrangement of the atomic steps of the substrate and the edges of the forming islands. In this work we present experimental results obtained for systems: NaCl/LiF( 0 0 1) and LiF/NaCl( 0 0 1), which exhibit a strong tendency of the self- assembly into regular structures. (c) 2008 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.