Thermal nucleation of kink-antikink pairs in a nonlinear Klein-Gordon (NKG) model with a Remoissenet-Peyrard (RP) substrate potential in the presence of impurities and coupled to an applied field is analyzed in the limits of moderate temperature and strong damping. Using the Kolmogorov method, the average velocity of particles of the lattice is calculated and its dependence on the intensity of impurities is discussed in connection with the deformability parameter or the shape of the RP substrate potential. Numerical values are carried out by making use of parameters of the hydrogen atom adsorbed in the tungsten and ruthenium substrates. We show that, for large values of the applied field, the presence of impurities in the system makes the nucleation process of kink-antikink pairs more favorable in the high-temperature regime while they contribute to make it less favorable in the low-temperature regime.

• Received 11 August 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.72.031604