Possible formation of stable Au atomic wire on the hydrogen terminated Si(0 0 1): 3 x 1 surface is investigated under the density functional formalism. The hydrogen terminated Si(0 0 1): 3 x 1 surface is patterned in two different ways by removing selective hydrogen atoms from the surface. The adsorption of Au on such surfaces is studied at different sub-monolayer coverages. At 4/9monolayer (ML) coverage, zigzag continuous Au chains are found to be stable on the patterned hydrogen terminated Si(0 0 1): 3 x 1 surface. The reason for the stability of the wire structures at 4/9 ML coverage is explained. It is to be noted that beyond 4/9 ML coverage, the additional Au atoms may introduce clusters on the surface. The continuous atomic gold chains on the substratemay be useful for the fabrication of atomic scale devices. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.