DIFFUSION OF W ON A W(211) PLANE

The diffusion of W on a (211) plane of a W field emitter has been re-examined by means of the fluctuation autocorrelation method. Diffusion along channels yielded E = 16.8 ± 0.5 kcal, D0 = (3 ± 1) × 10-5 cm2 s-1. For diffusion across channels E =6.6 kcal, D0 = 4 × 10-9cm2 s-1 at T < 752 K, and E = 24 kcal, D0 = 5 × 10-4 cm2 s-1 at T > 752 K. The results for diffusion along channels yield E and D0 values intermediate between recent results by Wang and Ehrlich [Surf. Sci. 206 (1988) 451] using field ion microscopy (E = 19 kcal, D0 = 7.7 × 10-3 cm2 s-1) and Tringides and Gomer [J. Chem. Phys. 84 (1986) 4049], using the same method as the present work but a larger slit (E = 13.3 kcal, D0 = 7 × 10-7 cm2 s-1). The results for cross channel diffus good agreement with those of Tringides and Gomer below 752 K, where these authors stopped. The new high temperature results suggest that the channel wall exchange mechanism postulated by Tringides and Gomer for cross channel diffusion at low T gives way to diffusion by climbing over the channel walls with higher E but also higher D0 above 752 K. Possible reasons for the discrepancies between these three sets of results and the absence of cross channel diffusion in the work of Wang and Ehrlich are briefly discussed. © 1990.