It was noted that, in the case of metal hetero epitaxy on Si(111)-(7x7), diffusion was markedly affected by the surface reconstruction, which placed additional constraints on the motion of the deposited atoms. Two different approaches were used to determine the diffusion parameters: interpretation of experimentally observed morphologies using a coarse-grained kinetic Monte Carlo model and direct observation of adatom movement using ultra-high vacuum scanning tunnelling microscopy. The attempt frequency and the barrier to hopping, of a single Ag atom between half-unit cells of the reconstruction, were estimated.

Reconstruction-Determined Diffusion of Ag Adatoms on the Si(111)-(7x7) Surface. P.Sobotík, I.Ošťádal, P.Kocán, J.Mysliveček, T.Jarolímek: Czechoslovak Journal of Physics, 2003, 53[1], 69-74