It was shown, by using molecular dynamics simulations, that in-channel adatom diffusion on missing-row reconstructed (110) surfaces took place via 2 different mechanisms. These were: jumps and metastable walks. In the latter case, the adatom climbed one of the (111) facets of the channel, diffused rapidly along the network of metastable minima on that facet, and was finally trapped again at the channel bottom. It was concluded that a considerable fraction of the events which led to direct mass transport to distant cells occurred via this new mechanism.

Competing Mechanisms in Adatom Diffusion on a Channelled Surface: Jumps versus Metastable Walks F.Montalenti, R.Ferrando: Physical Review B, 1998, 58[7], 3617-20