Self-Diffusion of Gold

The self-diffusion of gold was measured in single crystalline specimens of 99.8 and 99.999% purity in the temperature range from 600-954°C, by using ${\mathrm{Au}}^{198}$ as tracer and applying the sectioning technique. The temperature dependence of the self-diffusion coefficient is given by $D=(0.031\mathrm{}\pm 0.004)\exp [-\frac{(39\mathrm{}360\pm 280)}{\mathrm{RT}}] {\mathrm{cm}}^2/sec.$ Together with recently reported data on self-diffusion of copper, silver, and lead, this result is compared with empirical and theoretical predictions.