Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 July 2010
In the previous chapter we presented possible mechanisms which can contribute to cluster diffusion; in this chapter, we will concentrate on the energetics of cluster movement, mostly the movement of the center of mass. Early studies of cluster diffusion were all done on tungsten surfaces using FIM, but as techniques other than field ion microscopy were applied to learning more about this subject, other surfaces came under scrutiny. The biggest change in the level of activity, however, was made by theoretical calculations. These now dominate the field and have usually covered several surfaces of different materials in one examination. The number of experimental studies of cluster behavior decreased markedly as computational efforts reached new intensities. Unfortunately, theoretical investigations still are quite uncertain and experiments are urgently needed for comparison and verification. Nevertheless we will try to arrange our comments chronologically in the description of each material, but with experiments and theoretical calculations separated.
Early investigations
Experiments
Work on the diffusion of single adatoms on a metal surface had been going on for just a few years when Bassett began to look at clusters formed by association of several atoms. In 1969 he noted that after depositing several atoms on the (211) and (321) planes of tungsten, clusters formed, with a mobility smaller than that of single atoms, provided that deposition took place with the atoms in the same channel. On these planes, clusters moved in only one dimension, along the channels of the planes.
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