Cluster diffusion and dissociation in the kinetics of layer growth: An atomic view

Data on diffusion and dissociation of single Pt clusters on Pt(111), available for the first time from field ion microscope observations, are used to make predictions about nanoscale phenomena by solving the mean-field differential equations for growth. In the submonolayer regime, cluster dissociation is found to be much more important than diffusion of clusters in reducing the saturation island density. Cluster dissociation also significantly affects the nucleation of a second layer on top of existing clusters and must be considered on an equal footing with interlayer transport over cluster edges.