  We report on self-assembly, clustering, and conformational phases of peptides
on inorganic semiconductor surfaces. The peptide-covered surface fraction can
differ by a factor of 25, depending mainly on surface and peptide polarity. Low
adhesion induces large and soft clusters, which also have high contact angles
to the surface. Direct surface adhesion of a peptide molecule competes with
forming molecular aggregates which offer an overall reduced surface contact.
Simulating a simple hybrid model yields a pseudophase diagram with a rich,
temperature and solvent-quality dependent variety of subphases which are
specific to the hydrophobicity and polarity of the considered substrates.
