High-Temperature Study of the Schwoebel Effect in Au(111)

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Abstract
We investigate the adatom descent from straight steps on Au(111) by molecular-dynamics simulations. Au is modeled using many-body tight-binding potentials. Adatom descent may take place by a jump or by exchange; the static energy barriers are very similar for both mechanisms and much higher than the barrier for coming back to the inner terrace. However, the simulations at high temperatures (450–650 K) show that adatoms exchange fast and jumps are rare at both steps. These results suggest that the Schwoebel barriers for exchange are decreased at high temperature.