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Abstract:
An intermediate state in atomic diffusion processes in the O(2×2) layer on Ru(0001) is resolved with spiral high-speed scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The diffusion of atomic oxygen in the adlayer has been studied by density functional theory and STM. Transition state theory proposes a migration pathway for the diffusion in the oxygen adlayer. With spiral scan geometries—a new approach to high-speed STM—the oxygen vacancy mobility on the highly covered Ru(0001) surface is determined to be in the range of 0.1 to 1 Hz. Experimental evidence for the intermediate state along the oxygen diffusion pathway is provided in real space and real time.