Self-diffusion on Ag(1 1 0) studied by quasielastic He-atom scattering

The mobility of silver atoms adsorbed on Ag(1 1 0) is studied by means of energy resolved He-atom scattering in the temperature range between 300 and 750 K. Above 600 K adsorbed atoms diffusing along the 〈1 1̄ 0〉 azimuthal direction are detected. Information about the diffusion process is gained investigating the evolution of the quasielastic peak broadening with the parallel momentum transfer and with the temperature. In particular, the main diffusion mechanism is pointed out, the diffusion coefficient and the effective diffusion barrier are measured. The results are compared with the corresponding estimations from molecular-dynamics calculations.