Finite size effects : deuterium diffusion in nm thick vanadium layers

• We investigate the effect of finite size on the chemical diffusion of deuterium in extremely thin V(001) layers. A five fold increase in the diffusion coefficient is observed at concentrations around 0.2 [D/V], when the thickness of the V is decreased from 28 to 14 atomic layers (approximate to 2.1-4.2 nm). The size dependent deuterium-deuterium interaction energy is argued to be the root of the observed changes as the diffusion rates are similar at low concentrations. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using finite-size effects to enhance the chemical diffusion of light interstitials in solids. We discuss the general applicability of these effects to other systems.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

superlattices

optical transmission

deuterium diffusion

octahedral sites

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)