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Science 10 October 1997:
Vol. 278. no. 5336, p. 197
DOI: 10.1126/science.278.5336.197b
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Diffusion of atoms and molecules on surfaces is important for catalytic processes. Although strongly bound systems, such as metals on metal surfaces, have been investigated for some time, the study of weakly bound systems, such as carbon monoxide on metals, has been more difficult, as measurement can more easily affect the molecular motion. Briner et al. (p. 257) performed scanning tunneling microscopy of carbon monoxide on copper surfaces and found that dimers and longer chains move faster, through single molecule jumps, than monomers; this difference is attributed to a reduction of vibrational entropy in the chains rather than to a difference in activation energy.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)