Adsorption and transport of particles in low-dimensional heterogeneous substrates

F. BULNES; A. J. RAMIREZ-PASTOR; J. L. RICCARDO

SURFACE SCIENCE

Elsevier

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 1999 vol. 426 p. 48 - 60

0039-6028

Adsorption and collective diffusion of interacting particles on one-dimensional heterogeneous lattices are studied by both Monte Carlo simulation and theoretical modeling (cluster approximation). The heterogeneous substrate is modeled as a chain of adsorptive sites with patchwise topography. Patches of equal size are alternatively distributed with adsorption energies E1 and E2 (bivariate patch surface). Equilibrium adsorption properties (adsorption isotherms, mean-square fluctuations of surface coverage, and adsorption heats), as well as surface diffusion ( jump and collective diffusion coefficients) are addressed. Both the effect of lateral interaction between adatoms and substrate heterogeneity are considered. The MC results are compared with analytical results from cluster approximation, and the applicability of this latter approach in presence of heterogeneity is discussed.