Electron-stimulated desorption of sodium atoms initiated by their reverse motion

This paper reports on the first measurement of the yield and energy distributions of sodium atoms in electron-stimulated desorption at T = 160 K from sodium layers adsorbed on tungsten with a gold film atop. The Na atom yield has a resonant pattern with an appearance threshold of 30 eV, which can be attributed to exciton excitation in the Na 2p level. The Na yield is associated with the formation of a semiconducting Na _x Au _y film at T ∼ 300 K and sodium and gold coverages in excess of one monolayer. Sodium atoms are desorbed through Auger neutralization of Na²⁺ ions in their reverse motion toward the surface and is limited by the resonant ionization of Na atoms as they pass through the adsorbed layer of Na⁺ ions. The energy distributions of Na atoms are bell shaped with a maximum at about 0.56 eV.     

Electron-stimulated cesium atom desorption from the Cs/CsAu/Au/W system

This paper reports on a continuation of the investigation of electron-stimulated Cs-atom desorption from a tungsten surface on which cesium and gold films had been adsorbed at T = 300 K. Earlier studies revealed that Cs atoms start to desorb only after more than one monolayer of gold and more than one monolayer of cesium had been deposited on the tungsten surface. In this case, a coating consisting of a gold adlayer on tungsten, a CsAu compound possessing semiconducting properties, and a cesium monolayer capping CsAu (Cs/CsAu/Au/W) is formed on the tungsten surface at 300 K. The yield of atoms from this system exhibits a resonant dependence on the incident electron energy E _e , with an appearance threshold of 57 eV and a maximum at 64 eV. In this case, Cs atoms desorb in two channels, with one of them involving Cs desorption out of the cesium monolayer, and the other, from the CsAu monolayer. The Cs yield at E _e = 64 eV has been investigated in both desorption channels, with an additional cesium coating deposited on the already formed Cs/CsAu/Au/W layered system, as well as of the effect annealing produces on the yield and energy distributions of Cs atoms. It has been demonstrated that Cs atoms evaporated at 300 K on a layered coating with a cesium monolayer atop the CsAu layer on tungsten capped with a gold adlayer, rather than reflected from the cesium monolayer or adsorbing on it, penetrate through the cesium monolayer into the bulk of CsAu even with one CsAu layer present. The desorption yield does not vary with increasing cesium concentration at 300 K, but falls off gradually at 160 K. Annealing within the temperature range 320 K ≤ T _H ≤ 400 K destroys the cesium monolayer and the one-layer CsAu coating, but the multilayer CsAu compound does not break up in this temperature range even after evaporation of the cesium monolayer. It is shown that Cs atoms escape from the multilayer CsAu compound primarily out of the top CsAu layer.     

Initial stages of the interaction with oxygen of samarium thin films grown on the iridium surface

The interaction of thin (<1 nm) samarium films deposited on a textured iridium ribbon has been investigated by thermal desorption spectrometry. Samarium atoms deposited at T = 300 K desorb in three phases associated with the formation of a submonolayer samarium coverage on iridium, a compound of samarium with iridium, and a multilayer samarium film. The interaction with oxygen leads to the appearance of a new desorption phase, which is associated with the formation of samarium oxide. Oxidation of samarium is observed during exposure in oxygen already at room temperature. An increase in temperature of the iridium ribbon, at which exposure in oxygen occurs, to T = 1100 K leads to the formation of the compound of samarium with iridium. Further, the film of the compound decomposes in the course of interaction with oxygen, and samarium oxide grows on the Ir surface.     

Adsorption of gold on oxidized tungsten

The kinetics of adsorption and desorption of gold atoms from the surface of a thin (<2 nm) oxide film grown on a textured W ribbon with the preferred emergence of the (100) face is studied using termal desorption spectrometry in a wide range of coatings. A single desorption phase is observed in the spectra of termal desorption of Au atoms from oxidized W. The activation energy of desorption of Au atoms from tungsten oxides is lower than the gold sublimation heat (it amounts to E = 3.1 eV for the concentration of adsorbate atoms on the surface corresponding to coverage θ _s = 2.38). The gold film on oxidized tungsten at room temperature grows in the form of 3D islands. The sticking coefficient for gold atoms at T = 300 K is close to unity in the coverage range 0.5 < θ _s < 2.5.     

Thermally stimulated desorption of Na<Superscript>+</Superscript> and Cs<Superscript>+</Superscript> ions from a NaAu alloy film grown on Au

The formation of Na⁺ and Cs⁺ ions on and their thermal desorption from the surface of a NaAu alloy film grown on metallic gold are studied. It is shown that thermionic emission from insulator-coated metallic substrates is governed by a sequence of processes, such as diffusion of Na and Cs adatoms into the film, ionization of these atoms at the insulator-metal interface, diffusion of the resulting ions toward the surface, and desorption of the ions. The effect of weak electric fields on ion diffusion and desorption is investigated.     

Intercalation of two-dimensional graphite films on metals by atoms and molecules

An analysis is made of some general laws governing a new physical effect, i.e., the spontaneous penetration of particles (atoms, C₆₀ molecules) adsorbed on a two-dimensional graphite film on a metal (Ir, Re, Pt, Mo,...) to beneath the graphite film (intercalation). It is shown that atoms having low ionization potentials (Cs, K, Na) intercalate a two-dimensional graphite film on iridium at T=300–400K with an efficiency χ≈0.5, accumulating beneath the film to a concentration of up to a monolayer. Atoms having high ionization potentials (Si, Pt, Ni, C, Mo, etc.) intercalate a two-dimensional graphite film on iridium at T≈1000K with an efficiency, χ≈1, forming beneath the film a thick intercalate layer which is strongly bonded chemically to the metal substrate but is probably weakly bonded to the graphite monolayer by van der Waals forces. The presence of a graphite “lid” impeding the escape of atoms from the intercalated state up to record high temperatures T∼2000K leads to superefficient diffusion (with an efficiency close to one) of various atoms (Cs, K) into the bulk of the substrate (Re, Ir). Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 72–75 (September 1999)     

Growth of germanium thin films on the W(100) surface

The growth of Ge thin films on the surface of a textured predominantly (100)-oriented tungsten ribbon is studied by thermal desorption spectrometry at different substrate temperatures over a wide range of coverages. The mechanism of growth of the Ge films at T = 300 K is similar to a layer-by-layer mechanism. For T > 300 K, the films grow through the Stranski-Krastanov mechanism, according to which the completion of the monolayer coverage is followed by the formation of three-dimensional crystallites; as a result, the desorption kinetics changes. For small coverages (i.e., in the absence of lateral interactions), the activation energy of Ge desorption from W(100) is E = 4.9 ± 0.2 eV. In a monolayer, this activation energy decreases to E = 3.9 ± 0.2 eV due to the repulsive lateral interactions. The energy of pairwise lateral interactions is determined to be ω = 0.3 eV.     

Europium adsorption on a tungsten surface with various degrees of oxidation

The kinetics of europium adsorption on a W(100) face with various degrees of oxidation were studied by thermal desorption and Auger electron spectroscopy. The spectrum of Eu atoms desorbed thermally from the W(100) face consists of three successively filling desorption phases whose desorption activation energy decreases from 3 to 2.1 eV with an increase in the surface coverage. The thermodesorption spectrum of Eu atoms from the W(100) face coated with a monatomic oxygen film contains five successively forming desorption phases, with the desorption activation energy increasing to 4 eV for the high-temperature phase. The oxidized W is reduced by europium, and the desorption of the W oxides is replaced by that of EuO. After a monolayer film has formed, the Eu film adsorbed on tungsten starts to grow in the form of three-dimensional crystallites. As the degree of W oxidation increases, the Eu film becomes less nonuniform, until a solid Eu film starts to grow on bulk W oxides and completely screens the tungsten Auger signal.     

Effect of deposition of samarium atoms on the electron-stimulated desorption of cesium and samarium atoms from the surface of tungsten coated by gold and cesium

It has been shown that deposition of Sm atoms on W(100) surface coated by several monolayers of gold and cesium affects noticeably the yield of Cs atoms in electron-stimulated desorption (ESD) from this surface. The measurements have been performed by the time-of-flight method with a surface-ionization detector. The paper reports on the first observation of ESD of Sm atoms from the tungsten surface coated by layers of gold and cesium. The ESD threshold for Sm atoms, E _e = 57 eV, coincides with that for Cs atoms and corresponds to the energy of the Au 5p _3/2 core level. The dependence of the ESD yield of Sm atoms on the bombarding electron energy E _e follows a resonance pattern in the form of a narrow peak located in the range 57 ≤ E _e ≤ 66 eV. Deposition of Sm atoms at room temperature (～300 K) reduces (by a factor of about two) the ESD yield of Cs atoms for 600 s, and deposition of Sm atoms at 160 K reduces the ESD of Cs atoms down to zero already for 270 s. This difference finds explanation in the study of the change the structure of the top layer of the (Au + Cs)/W surface coating undergoes under cooling of the surface from 300 to 160 K.     

Intercalation of graphene on iridium with samarium atoms

Intercalation of graphene on Ir (111) with Sm atoms is studied by methods of thermal desorption spectroscopy and thermionic emission. It is shown that adsorption of samarium at T = 300 K on graphene to concentrations of N ≤ 6 × 10¹⁴ atoms cm^–2 followed by heating of the substrate leads to practically complete escape of adsorbate underneath the graphene layer. At N > 6 × 10¹⁴ atoms cm^–2 and increasing temperature, a fraction of adsorbate remains on graphene in the form of two-dimensional “gas” and samarium islands and are desorbed in the range of temperatures of 1000–1200 K. Samarium remaining under the graphene is desorbed from the surface in the temperature range 1200–2150 K. Model conceptions for the samarium–graphene–iridium system in a wide temperature range are developed.     

Electron stimulated desorption of cesium atoms from germanium-covered tungsten

The electron stimulated desorption (ESD) yield and energy distributions for Cs atoms from cesium layers adsorbed on germanium-covered tungsten have been measured for different Ge film thicknesses, 0.25-4.75 ML (monolayer), as a function of electron energy and cesium coverage Θ. The measurements have been carried out using a time-of-flight method and surface ionization detector. In the majority of measurements Cs is adsorbed at 300 K. The appearance threshold for Cs atoms is about 30 eV, which correlates well with the Ge 3d ionization energy. As the electron energy increases the Cs atom ESD yield passes through a wide maximum at an electron energy of about 120 eV. In the Ge film thickness range from 0.5 to 2 ML, resonant Cs atom yield peaks are observed at electron energies of 50 and 80 eV that can be associated with W 5p and W 5s level excitations. As the cesium coverage increases the Cs atom yield passes through a smooth maximum at 1 ML coverage. The Cs atom ESD energy distributions are bell-shaped; they shift toward higher energies with increasing cesium coverage for thin germanium films and shift toward lower energies with increasing cesium coverage for thick germanium films. The energy distributions for ESD of Cs from a 1 ML Ge film exhibit a strong temperature dependence; at T = 160 K they consist of two bell-shaped curves: a narrow peak with a maximum at a kinetic energy of 0.35 eV and a wider peak with a maximum at a kinetic energy of 0.5 eV. The former is associated with W level excitations and the latter with a Ge 3d level excitation. These results can be interpreted in terms of the Auger stimulated desorption model.     

Electron-stimulated desorption of cesium atoms from cesium layers deposited on a germanium-coated tungsten surface

The yield and energy distribution of Cs atoms from cesium layers adsorbed on germanium-coated tungsten were measured, using the time-of-flight technique with a surface-ionization-based detector, as a function of the energy of bombarding electrons, germanium film thickness, the amount of adsorbed cesium, and substrate temperature. The threshold for the appearance of Cs atoms is ～30 eV, which correlates well with the germanium 3d-level ionization energy. As the electron energy increases, the Cs atom yield passes through a broad maximum at ～120 eV. For germanium film thicknesses from 0.5 to 2 monolayers, resonance Cs yield peaks were observed at electron energies of 50 and 80 eV, which can be related to the tungsten 5p and 5s core-level ionization energies. As the cesium coverage increases, the Cs atom yield passes through a flat maximum at monolayer coverage. The energy distribution of Cs atoms follows a bell-shaped curve. With increasing cesium coverage, this curve shifts to higher energies for thin germanium films and to lower energies for thick films. The Cs energy distribution measured at a substrate temperature T = 160 K exhibits two bell-shaped peaks, namely, a narrow peak with a maximum at ～0.35 eV, associated with tungsten core-level excitation, and a broad peak with a maximum at ～0.5 eV, deriving from the excitation of the germanium 3d core level. The results obtained can be described within a model of Auger-stimulated desorption.     

The adsorption of chlorine and chloridation of Ag(111)

The adsorption of chlorine on the Ag(111) surface has been studied using LEED, Auger and temperature programmed desorption. Chlorine adsorbs dissociately with an initial sticking probability of ~ 0.4, and a precursor state is implicated in the chemisorption process. The chlorine appears to form a close-packed monolayer with the same packing density as in AgCl(111), and is epitaxially related to the substrate mesh. Chlorine continues to adsorb above a monolayer in coverage, though the sticking probability drops precipitately, being ~ 0.01 after the adsorption of 5 monolayers at 300 K. There is little increase in the chlorine Auger signal above one monolayer coverage at 300 K, but when adsorption is carried out at 240 K the chlorine signal is more than doubled. This is interpreted as being due to the formation of a layer structure of alternate Cl and Ag layers at the lower temperature, while adsorption at 300 K results in dissolution of subsurface Cl into the bulk of the crystal. Upon heating, the low temperature layer structure is destroyed, the chlorine signal diminishes to a limiting value at 450 K equivalent to the value for one adsorbed monolayer — apparently due to the dissolution of the near surface Cl layers into the bulk. However, the chlorine re-emerges at the surface at ~ 600 K, probably due to an exothermic heat of solution of Cl in the silver lattice. Desorption from the multilayers peaks at 670 K and both AgCl and Ag are desorbed coincidently with kinetics identical to those for the sublimation of bulk AgCl (ΔH = 235 kJ mol^?1, ΔS = 90 JK^?1 mol^?1). After the multilayers have desorbed, the final Cl layer desorbs in a higher temperature peak ( ~ 760 K) as AgCl (no silver desorption) which shows complex desorption kinetics indicative of the strong influence of a precursor state in the desorption process.     

Topographic study by scanning-tunneling microscopy of a two-dimensional graphite film on (10\bar 10)

Two-dimensional graphite films on $(10\bar 10)$ were produced in ultrahigh vacuum by adsorption of benzene vapor on the metal heated to T=1800 K. High-resolution Auger spectroscopy used for the film characterization showed the film indeed to have graphitic structure and monolayer thickness. The surface topography was studied in air by scanning-tunneling microscopy. The monolayer thickness was confirmed, and it was shown that a two-dimensional graphite film has a complex topography featuring numerous hillocks with linear dimensions of ～3000 Å and height differences of ～300 Å, while retaining graphitic structure on the atomic scale. The lack of planarity of such a film at room temperature is considered to be due to deformation occurring under cooling from the temperature of formation down to 300 K, which is caused by the difference in thermal expansion coefficients between the graphite sheet and rhenium.     

Application of electron-stimulated desorption for studying adsorbed layers

After a brief discussion of the main result of the research initiated by N.I. Ionov in his laboratory using electron-stimulated desorption for studying the surface layers of tungsten, we consider in greater detail recent results on layered coatings formed on the tungsten surface upon simultaneous adsorption of sodium (or cesium) and gold atoms on this surface, as well as the effect of sputtering of samarium atoms on the (Cs + Au)/W(100) surface that has already been formed at 300 K.     

Laser-stimulated desorption of potassium atoms

Desorption of K atoms by laser-excitation of surface plasmons in small K particles is reported. The desorption rate has been measured for different laser wavelengths and particle sizes. Time-of-flight measurements reveal a kinetic energy of the desorbed atoms of E_kin=0.13(3) eV. From the experimental data it is concluded that the desorption mechanism is non-thermal in nature. Comparison of the results reported here with our earlier work on Na desorption is made.     

Influence of thermal treatment on the microstructure and electrical and optical properties of SnS thin films

The influence of thermal treatment on the microstructure and electrical and optical properties of SnS films obtained by the “hot-wall” method has been investigated. It has been established that the thermal treatment does not lead to the formation of foreign phases in the film composition. The average film roughness after the thermal treatment increases from 10 to 20 nm. Resistivity after the thermal treatment decreases from 230 to 100 Ωcm (T = 300 K), while the temperature coefficient of thermopower increases from 40 to 330 μV K^?1. The band gap is 1.46 eV. The adsorption edge is not displaced after the thermal treatment.     

Anomalous behavior of silver atoms in intercalation under a two-dimensional graphite film

It is shown that silver atoms, the only ones of many atoms studied previously (Si, C, Mo, Pt, Cu, Ir, Ni, Au, Cs, K, Na, Ba,...), do not intercalate, that is, do not penetrate under a two-dimensional graphite film (2DGF) on a metal either upon direct depositing in the temperature range 300–2000 K or annealing of a previously deposited silver film. Intercalation becomes possible if silver is deposited on a 2DGF with previously intercalated cesium; in this case, silver atoms displace Cs atoms from under the 2DGF upon heating up to 1100 K.     

The interaction of Cs and O2 on the basal plane of MoS2

The interaction of Cs and O₂ on MoS₂(0001) has been studied both in the alternate adsorption and the codeposition mode by LEED, AES, TDS and WF measurements at 170 and 300 K. Oxygen does not interact with Cs when θ_Cs?0.04 at 300 K or θ_Cs?0.08 at 170 K, where Cs is known to adsorb as strongly ionized, individual adatoms. The interaction at higher θ_Cs, where Cs is known to form clusters on MoS₂(0001), leads to clusters of a Cs/O complex characterized by a Cs(563 eV)/O(512 eV) Auger peak ratio of 1.1–1.3. The minimum WF is 2.1 eV at 300 and 170 K upon alternate adsorption, and 1.7 eV at both T upon codeposition. Upon heating, oxygen and Cs desorb independently, as no oxide desorption is observed. The Cs TDS spectrum is shifted to lower T in the presence of oxygen and a new desorption peak appears at ～ 880 K. The differences in the Cs/O interaction between MoS₂(0001) and other semiconductors and metals are attributed to the Cs clustering and the inertness of MoS₂(0001) to O₂ adsorption.     

Interaction of aluminum with iridium surface: Adsorption, desorption, dissolution, and formation of surface compounds

The interaction of aluminum with an iridium (111) surface was studied in ultrahigh vacuum by Auger electron spectroscopy over the broad temperature range 300–2000 K. At room temperature, layer-by-layer growth of an aluminum film was observed, with a monolayer forming in coherent relation to the substrate. Deposition at 1100–1300 K gives rise to the formation of surface aluminide Ir₄Al with an adatom concentration N _Al = (4.20 ± 0.15) × 10¹⁴ cm^?2. It was shown that aluminum escapes out of the surface aluminide by thermal desorption in the 1300–1700-K temperature interval, with the desorption activation energy changing from ～4.5 to ～5.7 eV as the coverage decreases from the value corresponding to the surface aluminide (taken for unity) down to zero.