Growth and vibrational properties of MnOx thin films on Rh(111)

The growth, structures, and vibrational properties of ultrathin manganese oxide films on Rh(111) had been investigated using high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), low energy electron diffraction (LEED), low energy ion scattering spectroscopy (LEIS) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). MnO_x grew in a layer-by-layer fashion on the Rh(111) surface. HREELS phonon features and XPS binding energies showed that an OMnO like tri-layer formed initially. Which was stable on the Rh(111) surface with MnO_x coverage less than one monolayer. At above one monolayer, Mn₃O₄ was preferred as indicated from a four-phonon feature peaked at 13.3, 39, 68 and 83 meV in HREELS. Higher temperature oxidation and annealing were found to improve the long-range order of the MnO_x films.