DISSOLUTION OF CARBON ADLAYERS INTO THE (110) FACE OF NICKEL

The rate of carbon dissolution from adsorbed layers through the (110) face of a nickel crystal has been determined for a wide range of initial surface carbon concentrations over the temperature range from 600 to 913 K. Auger electron spectrometry was used to measure the decrease in surface carbon concentration with time at temperature. For graphic monolayers at T greater than 873 K, dissolution is controlled by the transport of carbon from adsorbed layer to bulk. For dilute adlayers at T approximately equals 723 K, dissolution is controlled by the bulk diffusion rate of carbon. At intermediate values of initial carbon concentration and temperature, quantitative treatment of the dissolution rate was not possible.