Natori, A. and Godby, R.W. (1993) Surface diffusion on a stepped surface. Physical Review B, 47 (23). pp. 15816-15822. ISSN 1098-0121
Abstract
Surface diffusion of an adatom on a vicinal surface is investigated, using site-dependent hopping rates based on a model surface-potential profile of a regularly stepped surface. We solved analytically the coupled rate equations for the occupation probability of an adatom at a sufficiently long time, in analogy to the tight-binding theory of electronic structure. From this, the general relation between the hopping rates and the diffusion coefficient is derived. Formulas of both surface diffusion coefficients, parallel and perpendicular to a step edge direction, are obtained as functions of related atomic hopping rates at a terrace site, an upper edge site, and a lower edge site and of the step spacing. The fundamental mechanism determining the crucial role of step arrays on surface diffusion is clarified. No difference was found between step-up diffusion and step-down diffusion, even in the absence of inversion symmetry on the surface-potential profile. With Monte Carlo simulation, the effect of kink sites on surface diffusion is studied. Kinks greatly suppress the parallel diffusion coefficient, while they suppress only weakly the perpendicular diffusion coefficient.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 1993 American Physical Society. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Physics (York) |
Depositing User: | Physics Import |
Date Deposited: | 25 Sep 2008 10:07 |
Last Modified: | 25 Sep 2008 10:07 |
Published Version: | http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v47/p15816 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Physical Society |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1103/PhysRevB.47.15816 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:3980 |