Monte Carlo simulations and scaling theory were applied to the study of the size and temperature dependences of the diffusion coefficients of clusters of atoms and vacancies on surfaces. Mechanisms and rate-determining steps were proposed for a realistic model of the Xe/Pt(111) system. The coarsening of ensembles of clusters was also considered. By explicitly deriving the coarsening exponents, it was shown that the coarsening rate for systems which were dominated by coalescence due to cluster diffusion differed from the rates which were associated with Ostwald ripening.

D.S.Sholl, R.T.Skodje: Physical Review Letters, 1995, 75[17], 3158-61