Abstract
Low-energy electron microscopy reveals that two-dimensional, atom, Pb-overlayer and vacancy islands both have diffusion coefficients of at on Pb-Cu surface alloys. This high mobility, key to self-assembly in this system, results from the fast transport of Pb atoms on the surface alloy and of Cu through the Pb overlayer. A high Pb vacancy concentration, predicted by ab initio calculations, facilitates the latter.
- Received 31 October 2006
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.096106
©2007 American Physical Society