Fitness landscapes as predictor of noise-driven self-organized pattern formation on surfaces

Pattern formation far from equilibrium often exhibits a richness that is quite distinct from near-equilibrium dynamics. Perhaps the most visible consequence is the formation of different patterns in addition to the one favored at or near equilibrium. Can these, then, be controlled, and selected, externally? Here, we adopt the concept of "fitness landscapes" from evolutionary biology to show how nonlocal feedback gain of tailored defects controls and steers the evolution of nanopatterns using Nonlinear Laser Lithography (Ilday, Nat. Photon., 2013), an optical method that forms feedback-regulated patterns with nanometer uniformity. Through numerical simulations and experimental demonstration, we show that stimulated symmetry breaking can direct these nanopatterns to all possible 2D Bravais lattices.