Time-lapse topography, studied via scanning tunnelling microscopy of a clean annealed (111) surface, revealed the effects of the surface diffusion of Au atoms at room temperature. Within several minutes, features such as marks (which had been made by contact with the specimen tip) changed due to the diffusion of Au atoms over the surface. The diffusion did not depend upon the magnitude or sign of the tunnelling current and voltage parameters. The experiments demonstrated the unique ability of the scanning tunnelling microscope to obtain direct information on surface diffusion at the atomic scale.

R.C.Jaklevic, L.Elie: Physical Review Letters, 1988, 60[2], 120-3