The effect of an electric field on the surface diffusion of rhenium adsorbed on tungsten

Abstract

The diffusion of individual atoms of rhenium on (211), (321) and (110) tungsten surfaces has been studied by field-ion microscopy. The diffusion coefficients (in m2s−1) of 1 × 10−6 exp ( - 20 300/RT) for the (211), 5 × 10−8 exp ( - 20 400/RT) for the (321) and 3 × 10−6 exp ( - 23 900/RT) for the (110) surfaces were not significantly changed when diffusion occurred in an applied electric field of 0·9 MV m−1 normal to the surface.