Local strain induced anisotropic diffusion on (23×3)-Au(1 1 1) surface

Based on the many-body glue potential, the adatom diffusion on the reconstructed (23×3)-Au(1 1 1) surface is theoretically studied. We demonstrate that the reconstructed surface is strongly anisotropic for the adatom diffusion. The local strain enhances the adatom diffusion, and leads to diffusion barriers dependent on the direction and position.