Experimental Observation of Fast Diffusion of Large Antimony Clusters on Graphite Surfaces

We present a quantitative study of the diffusion of spherical antimony clusters deposited on graphite surfaces. The experimental structures obtained during deposition are compared to predictions of recent computer models, and very good agreement is found. From this comparison we can obtain the diffusion coefficient of large antimony clusters containing around 2300 atoms moving on a graphite substrate: we find ${D=D}_0\exp \left({-E}_a/k_{B}T\right)$ with $D_0\approx 1.6\times {10}^4{\mathrm{cm}}^2/\mathrm{s}$ and $E_a=0.7\mathrm{}\pm 0.1\mathrm{eV}$. This large value of $D_0$ suggests that the diffusion cannot be explained by a simple atomic activated process, but may rather involve collective motions of the atoms of the cluster.