Atomic-scale investigations on the surface diffusions of Pb adatoms on uniaxially strained Cu(111) were performed using molecular dynamics simulations and ab initio calculations methods. Tensile strains in [1¯10] reduced the surface diffusion coefficient, while the [112] strains increased the diffusion coefficient until the Cu(111) substrate was elongated 4% uniaxially. The surface diffusion energy barriers for the three different paths: [1¯10], [112] and [2¯11], were calculated using ab initio calculations. The energy barrier only for the [1¯10] direction was increased when tensile strain in the [1¯10] direction was applied, while the [112] strain decreased the energy barriers for all three diffusion paths. The [1¯10]  strain altered the easy surface diffusion direction from the x-direction to the y-direction, while the  [2¯11] strain created isotropic diffusion coefficients in lateral directions.

Surface Diffusion Coefficient Determination by Uniaxial Tensile Strain in Pb/Cu(111) Surface Systems. Choi, H., Lee, E.K., Chung, Y.C.: Current Applied Physics, 2011, 11[3], S400-3