An MD study of adatom self-diffusion on Au(110) surfaces

We study the diffusion of adatoms on Au(110) by molecular dynamics simulati ons. The (1 x 1) and the missin-grow (2 x 1) geometries are considered. In both geometries the diffusion is strong;y anisotropic, because the energy b arriers for cross-channel mobility are higher than the barriers for in-chan nel diffusion. In the (2 x 1) geometry, the adatom may diffuse not only by jumping on a straight line along the [1 (1) over bar 0] direction, but also by a random walk among the metastable sites on the (111) facets of the cha nnel. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.