Surface Diffusion

Surface diffusion is a general process involving the motion of adatoms, molecules, and atomic clusters (adparticles) at solid material surfaces. The process can generally be thought of in terms of particles jumping between adjacent adsorption sites on a surface, as in figure 1. Just as in bulk diffusion, this motion is typically a thermally promoted process with rates increasing with increasing temperature. Many systems display diffusion behavior that deviates from the conventional model of nearest-neighbor jumps. Tunneling diffusion is a particularly interesting example of an unconventional mechanism wherein hydrogen has been shown to diffuse on clean metal surfaces via the quantum tunneling effect.

Various analytical tools may be used to elucidate surface diffusion mechanisms and rates, the most important of which are field ion microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy. While in principle the process can occur on a variety of materials, most experiments are performed on crystalline metal surfaces. Due to experimental constraints most studies of surface diffusion are limited to well below the melting point of the substrate, and much has yet to be discovered regarding how these processes take place at higher temperatures.

Surface diffusion rates and mechanisms are affected by a variety of factors including the strength of the surface-adparticle bond, orientation of the surface lattice, attraction and repulsion between surface species and chemical potential gradients. It is an important concept in surface phase formation, epitaxial growth, heterogeneous catalysis, and other topics in surface science. As such, the principles of surface diffusion are critical for the chemical production and semiconductor industries. Real-world applications relying heavily on these phenomena include catalytic converters, integrated circuits used in electronic devices, and silver halide salts used in photographic film.