Diffusion mechanisms taking place at the early stages of cobalt deposition on Au(111)

O. A. OVIEDO; E. P. M. LEIVA; M. M. MARISCAL

JOURNAL OF PHYSICS CONDENSED MATTER

IOP

Año: 2008 vol. 20 p. 265010 - 265010

0953-8984

n the present work a detailed atomic-level analysis of some of the main diffusion mechanismswhich take place during cobalt adatom deposition are studied within atom dynamics (AD) andthe nudged elastic band (NEB) method. Our computer simulations reveal a very fast exchangebetween Co and Au atoms when the deposit is a single cobalt adatom. However, when thenucleus size increases, a decrease in the exchange probability is observed. Activation energiesfor different transitions are obtained using AD in combination with the NEB method.