Vacancy mechanism of the anomalous behavior of surface atoms at elevated temperatures

Abstract

A model that takes into account the significant contribution of vacancies at moderate and high temperatures is proposed to explain the anomalous increase in the mean-square displacements of atoms in transition-metal surface monolayers. The dependence of the effects on the orientation of the surface is explained. The vacancy formation energies and the values of the Debye temperature are obtained within the proposed model for differently oriented surfaces. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.