The diffusion of 2 organic molecules, DC and HtBDC, on the Cu(110) surface was studied by scanning tunneling microscopy. It was found that long jumps, spanning multiple lattice spacings, played a predominant role in the diffusion of the molecules; the root-mean-square jump lengths were as large as 3.9 and 6.8 lattice spacings, respectively. The presence of long jumps was revealed by a new and simple method of analysis, which was checked by kinetic Monte Carlo simulation.

Long Jumps in the Surface Diffusion of Large Molecules. M.Schunack, T.R.Linderoth, F.Rosei, E.Lægsgaard, I.Stensgaard, F.Besenbacher: Physical Review Letters, 2002, 88[15], 156102 (4pp)