Adsorption of Pb on NiAl(1 1 0): energetics and structure

The adsorption of Pb onto a NiAl(1 1 0) single crystal surface at 300 K has been studied by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), Low energy electron diffraction (LEED), molecular beam/surface scattering and single crystal adsorption calorimetry (SCAC). AES indicates a Stranski-Krastanov growth mode, i.e., Pb initially grows on NiAl(1 1 0) two-dimensionally until the first layer completes at 0.89 ML, where a superstructure is observed by LEED, followed by 3D islanding. Measurements of the Pb gas that does not stick indicate that Pb sticks on NiAl(1 1 0) with an initial probability of 0.99. The initial heat of adsorption of Pb on NiAl(1 1 0) is 249 ± 10 kJ/mol. Due to the repulsive interactions between Pb adatoms, the heat of adsorption decreases within the first layer to a value identical to the heat of sublimation of bulk Pb (195 kJ/mol), where it remains at higher coverages. This first application of adsorption calorimetry on such a thick sample (75 μm versus 0.2-8 μm previously) demonstrates that adsorption calorimetry can be extended to a wider range of surfaces, since this thickness can be achieved with nearly any single crystal material by simple mechanical thinning.