Grating-like patterns of H adatom density were formed on Cu(111) by using complementary patterns of Xe adatom density as a template. The template was pre-formed by laser-induced thermal desorption of a Xe monolayer on Cu(111) using the interference pattern of 2 coherent laser pulses. By following the evolution of H density gratings on Cu(111) from 153 to 183K with linear optical

diffraction, it was found that the diffusion of H atoms on Cu(111) within this temperature range involved classical over-barrier hopping, described by:

D (cm2/s) = 2.0 x 10-3 exp[-0.279(eV)/kT]

Y.Y.Fei, X.D.Zhu: Europhysics Letters, 2006, 76[5], 877-83