Scanning tunneling microscopy has been used to investigate changes in a vacuum‐annealed gold surface induced by the application of voltage pulses to the tip. After a 2‐V 1.5‐s pulse a hole several hundreds of angstroms wide and of similar depth was generated, the responsibility being ascribed to ion arcing. We present a time‐lapse sequence showing its decay process, from which surface‐diffusion velocities between 4 and 0.1 A˚ s−1have been determined. From the new surface, a scan showing atomic resolution has been obtained, giving different interatomic spacings (S) and atomic diameters (D) in two lattice directions at an angle of 60°. These areS=2.1 A˚ andD=2.0 A˚ for the short axis andS=3.1 and 3.8 A˚ andD=2.7 A˚ for the long axis.