The diffusion and coarsening of 2-dimensional homo-epitaxial islands on (100) surfaces were studied at room temperature by means of time-sequenced scanning tunnelling microscopy. A quantitative analysis of the dependence of the island diffusion coefficient upon the island side-length yielded non-integer negative scaling exponents which were consistent with island coalescence. A near absence of island decay showed that island diffusion occurred via mass transport along the island periphery.

Island Diffusion and Coarsening on Metal (100) Surfaces W.W.Pai, A.K.Swan, Z.Zhang, J.F.Wendelken: Physical Review Letters, 1997, 79[17], 3210-3