Single atom diffusion of Pb on a Si(1 1 1)-7 × 7 surface

Pb diffusion on the Si(1 1 1)-7 × 7 surface was studied with 16 different energy barriers. As a part of general problem of diffusion in the unit cell, some characteristics of diffusion (as frequency factor, effective energy barrier or differences in binding energy) was found analytically as a steady state solution of the master equation. The probability distribution of the occupation of particular sites was compared with the result of the Monte Carlo simulation and the STM experiment. Starting from the values obtained with the semi-empirical extended Hückel approximation, the diffusion barriers were adjusted to obtain a reasonable coherence with the experiment. The results of MC simulation and the analytical solution agree quite well and reproduce the dynamics of a Pb atom in the 7 × 7 unit cell.