The kinetics of hill-and-valley faceting of oxygen-covered tungsten

The coarsening kinetics of steplike faceted O/W(332) surface is investigated using field ion microscopy. The spatial density of facets is measured as a function of time (10-320 s) and temperature (1100-1400 K). The results are discussed in terms of the temporal coarsening exponent and the activation energy for the coarsening process.

► Faceted oxygen-covered tungsten (332) surface. ► Evolution of topography in time (10-320 s) at different temperatures (1100-1400 K). ► Facets slowly increase in time. ► Facets significantly increase with temperature.