Abstract
Studies of adsorbate-induced field emission current fluctuations [field emission flicker noise, (FEFN)] have provided many interesting results on surface diffusion processes and related phenomena. The FEFN is investigated using spectral analysis, auto-correlation (AC) and cross-correlation (CC) measurements.In this paper a review is given on the FEFN studies carried out in lasting cooperation between the physics groups of Leipzig and Wrocław Universities. A special emphasis is laid upon the CC measurements (the simultaneous correlation of the FEFN from two probed regions) of potassium submonolayers on a tungsten surface, initiated in 1978 by Da̧browski and Kleint.The CC studies of potassium submonolayers revealed a new insight into the dynamics of adparticle motions on a crystal surface. Diffusion motion of single adparticles and collective phenomena such as soliton or domain wall propagation within the adlayer have been suggested and discussed as a possible explanation of the observed properties of the CC functions.
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