First-principles total energies of periodic vicinals were used to estimate barriers to Pt-adatom diffusion along straight and kinked steps on (111) surfaces, and around a corner where straight steps intersected. In all of the cases that were studied, hopping diffusion had a lower barrier than did concerted substitution. Contrary to simulations of dendritic Pt island formation on Pt(111), hopping from a corner site to a step whose riser was a (111) micro-facet was predicted to be easier than hopping to one whose riser was a (100) micro-facet.

Self-Diffusion along Step-Bottoms on Pt(111). P.J.Feibelman: Physical Review B, 1999, 60[7], 4972-81