Self-diffusion on (100), (110), and (111) surfaces of Ni and Cu: A detailed study of prefactors and activation energies

We calculate activation barriers and prefactors for diffusion via hopping on (100), (110), and (111) surfaces of Ni and Cu. The calculations reveal that, when activation barriers decrease there is also a decrease in the prefactors such that the changes in both quantities partly compensate for each other with respect to the diffusivities. Thermodynamic functions which contribute to the prefactors are calculated from local vibrational density of states, showing that mainly entropy contributions control the prefactors. Our method allows one to trace the obtained values back to vibrational properties of the adatoms in both the minimum-energy and transition-state configurations, and enables a physical understanding of why prefactors have certain values.