Abstract
WHILE studying the mobility of single metal atoms on clean tungsten surfaces by field ion microscopy (ref. 1 and our unpublished results), we have observed the formation of polyatomic clusters in the adsorption layer. The nature and stability of such clusters are of interest in relation to the nucleation of orientated overgrowth layers2 and the interaction between adsorbed atoms. Our observations relate to atoms diffusing at temperatures in the range 220°–360° K along the direction of close-packed atom rows on (211) and (321) surfaces, and in all directions over the (110) surface.
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Bassett, D. W., and Parsley, M. J., Brit. J. Appl. Phys., ser. 2, 2, 13 (1969).
Walton, D., J. Chem. Phys., 37, 2182 (1962).
Plummer, E. W., and Rhodin, T. N., J. Chem. Phys., 49, 3479 (1968).
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BASSETT, D., PARSLEY, M. Field Ion Microscope Observations of Cluster Formation in Metal Deposits on Tungsten Surfaces. Nature 221, 1046 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1038/2211046a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2211046a0
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