Low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES)
were used to study the initial growth of a cobalt ultrathin film on a Pt(ll1) surface. The
growth of the cobalt ultrathin film on Pt( 111) belongs to Stranski-Krastanov mode. The
kinetics of the inter-diffusion of Co adatoms on a Pt( 111) surface was studied by AES
at various temperatures with the Co coverage of one monolayer. The activation energy
and the pre-exponential diffusion coefficient are obtained to be 0.90 eV and 6.6 x lo-l1
cm/s respectively from an Arrhenius plot. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy
(UPS) was used to monitor the alloy formation of Co/Pt( 111) in the annealing process.