Energy barriers for diffusion on stepped Pt(1 1 1) surface

Abstract

We performed molecular statics calculations of energy barriers for adatom moves in the vicinity of steps on Pt(111) surface. We used the semi-empirical many-body Rosato–Guillope–Legrand potential and we systematically calculated barriers for descent of straight steps, steps with a kink and small islands as well as barriers for diffusion along the step edges. We confirmed that the lowest barrier for descent is for an exchange process near kink’s or island’s corner on a step with a {111} microfacet. Diffusion along a step with a {111} microfacet is faster than along a step with a {100} microfacet. We also calculated barriers for diffusion on several surfaces vicinal to Pt(111). Our results are compared with previous calculations.