Data on the diffusion and dissociation of single Pt clusters on Pt(111) were obtained for the first time from field-ion microscopic observations, and were used to make predictions concerning nanoscale phenomena by solving the mean-field differential equations for growth. It was found that, in the sub-monolayer regime, cluster dissociation was much more important than was the diffusion of clusters in reducing the saturation island density. Cluster dissociation also markedly affected the nucleation of a second layer on top of existing clusters, and had to be considered to be on an equal footing with interlayer transport over cluster edges.

Cluster Diffusion and Dissociation in the Kinetics of Layer Growth - an Atomic View. K.Kyuno, G.Ehrlich: Physical Review Letters, 2000, 84[12], 2658-61