A study was made of the dynamic behavior of atoms at step edges, and on stepped surfaces. The diffusion of edge atoms along steps with various atomic structures, the detachment or dissociation of step-edge atoms, the descending and ascending motions of atoms at step edges, the upward movement of in-layer atoms, and the stable structures of nm-sized islands were investigated. The activation barrier heights for various atomic processes at lattice steps were deduced. Adatom diffusion on the terrace of the (113) and (331) surfaces was also studied and was found to be described by:

D (cm2/s) = 0.001 exp[-0.72(eV)/kT]

and

D (cm2/s) = 10-1.9exp[-0.91(eV)/kT]

respectively.

T.Y.Fu, Y.R.Tzeng, T.T.Tsong: Physical Review B, 1996, 54[8], 5932-9