Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
The surface diffusion coefficient of sulfur on the (110) surface of nickel was determined at temperatures of 623, 673 and 723 K by measurement of surface diffusion profiles using an Auger Electron Spectrometer. A half-plane monolayer of segregated sulfur was used as a source and the analysis was done by a Boltzmann-Matano method. The activation energy for surface diffusion of sulfur was determined to be about 106 kJ/mol and pre-exponential Do to be about 6×10-3 m2/s from the Arrhenius plot of D versus 1/T. The presence of carbon on the surface of nickel was shown to decrease the surface diffusion of sulfur. Also, the mechanism of spreading from the half-plane source changed from a classic surface diffusion on clean surfaces to a linear mobility of the sulfur-carbon interface on surfaces covered with carbon.