Electronic structure of ultrathin Cs coatings on a Si(100)2×1 surface

The electronic structure and ionization energy of submonolayer Cs coatings on a Si(100)2×1 surface is investigated by threshold photo-emission spectroscopy. Two surface bands induced by Cs adsorption are observed, and their evolution is studied as a function of coverage. It is found that there are two “adsorption locations” for Cs atoms, where they interact with active dangling bonds at the surface. It has been determined that the Cs/Si(100)2×1 interface is semiconducting all the way down to monolayer coverage. The results show that Cs adsorption is predominantly of a covalent character. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 65, No. 9, 699–702 (10 May 1997)     

Magnetization reversal of Fe ultrathin film on Cu(100)

The magnetization reversal of Fe/Cu(100) ultrathin films grown at room temperature is investigated by using an in situ magneto-optical Kerr effect polarimeter with a magnet that can rotate in a plane of incidence. There occur spin reorientation transitions from out-of-plane to in-plane magnetizations in 8 and 12 monolayers (ML) thick iron films. The coercive fields are observed to be proportional to the reciprocal of the cosine with respect to the easy axis, suggesting that the domain-wall displacement plays a main role in the magnetization reversal process.     

Photoelectron diffraction study on the structure of a vanadium ultrathin film deposited at the TiO2(110) surface

This Letter reports an X-ray photoelectron diffraction study of ∼5 V monolayers deposited by electron beam evaporation at the TiO₂(110) surface. Data clearly show that V grows as islands with a bcc structure having the [100] direction normal to the substrate surface. A detailed analysis of the V″2p and Ti″3p azimuthal curves indicates also an alignment of the [001] overlayer azimuth with the [1¯10] direction of the TiO₂ substrate. These results are consistent with an epitaxial growth of bcc V at the TiO₂(110) surface where a double V surface unit cell is matched to the TiO₂(110) rectangular cell.     

Surface phonons on Pb(111)

We present an ab initio study of the lattice dynamics of the Pb(111) surface. The calculations were carried out within the density-functional theory using a linear response approach in the mixed-basis pseudopotential representation. We observe a rich spectrum of surface localized modes, and make a detailed assignment to measured modes in a recent helium-atom scattering experiment. We find that the inclusion of spin–orbit coupling considerably softens the phonon spectrum of the surface, thereby improving the agreement with experiment significantly.     

Crystallographic structure of ultrathin Fe films on Cu(100)

We report the observation of bcc-like crystal structures in 2-4 monolayer (ML) Fe films grown on fcc Cu(100) using scanning tunneling microscopy. The local bcc structure provides a straightforward explanation for their frequently reported outstanding magnetic properties, i.e., ferromagnetic ordering in all layers with a Curie temperature above 300 K. The nonpseudomorphic structure, which becomes pseudomorphic above 4 ML film thickness, is unexpected in terms of conventional rules of thin film growth and stresses the importance of finite thickness effects in ferromagnetic ultrathin films.     

On the surface phonons due to oxygen adsorption on Ni (100)

Assuming that an oxygen adsorbed atom is linked to four Nickel atoms by central harmonic forces, the surface phonons energies are calculated in the case of P 2 × 2 and C 2 × 2 structures. The comparison to measured low-energy electron losses indicates that the Ni-O bond strength in the P 2 × 2 adsorbed structure is twice that of the C 2 × 2. This result gives some information concerning the potential shape near equilibrium position.     

Atomic structure of antiphase domain boundaries of a thin Al2O3 film on NiAl(110)

Line defects of a thin alumina film on NiAl(110) have been studied on the atomic level with scanning tunneling microscopy at 4 K. While boundaries between two reflection domains do not expose a characteristic structure, antiphase domain boundaries are well ordered. The latter boundaries result from the insertion of a row of O atoms, as atomically resolved images of the topmost oxygen layer show. The insertion occurs only in two of the three characteristic directions of the quasihexagonal O lattice. Depending on the direction, either straight or zigzagged boundaries form. An atomic characterization of line defects on the oxide surface is a first step to correlate their topographic structure and chemical activity.     

Atomic and electronic structure of styrene on Ge(100)

Coverage-dependent adsorption structures of styrene on a Ge(100) surface were investigated using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The most favorable configuration at room temperature is that the two styrene molecules are bound to two Ge dimers with paired end-bridged (PEB) configuration via the reaction of the vinyl CC double bond. The phenyl rings of the two styrene molecules are trans relative to the Ge dimer rows. Due to the bulky and electronic nature of the phenyl ring, its spatial orientation relative to the Ge surface affects the thermodynamic stability of each configuration. The buckling properties of surface Ge dimers also affect their interaction with the phenyl ring. Simulated STM images of this PEB configuration for empty states explain well the adsorption features observed in the experiment, as well as for filled states. Detailed electronic structures were also investigated through the PDOS analysis.     

Surface structure of an ultrathin alumina film on Ni3Al(111): a dynamic scanning force microscopy study

The surface structure of an ultrathin alumina film on a Ni3Al(111) substrate has been studied by dynamic scanning force microscopy. The alumina film exhibits a hexagonal superstructure with a lattice parameter of 4.14 nm and a (1/sqrt[3] x 1/sqrt[3])R30 degrees substructure. Two domains rotated by 24 degrees are present. The film is terminated by a hexagonal lattice of oxygen ions with a lattice parameter of 0.293 nm, which is rotated by 30 degrees with respect to the substrate lattice. The nodes of the 4.14 nm superstructure and the 2.39 nm substructure are pinned on points of the substrate lattice, where the surface atomic lattice is almost commensurable. The oxygen lattice is perfectly hexagonal close to these nodes and disordered in the surrounding regions.     

Electronic properties of cesium ultrathin coatings on the Ga-rich GaAs(100) surface

The cesium submonolayer coatings on the Ga-rich GaAs(100) surface at different coverages have been investigated by threshold photoemission spectroscopy. The electronic spectra of surface states and the ion-ization energies are analyzed. At a cesium coverage of about one-half the monolayer, the spectrum exhibits two narrow adsorption-induced bands below the Fermi level. This indicates that cesium atoms interacting with gallium dimers occupy two nonequivalent positions. It is found that the gallium broken bonds are saturated at the cesium coverage of ～0.7 monolayer, and the adsorption bonding is predominantly covalent in character. At the coverages close to the monolayer, broad bands with energies of 1.9, 2.05, and 2.4 eV have been observed for the first time. These bands can be associated with the excitation of cesium islands, cesium clusters, and surface cesium plasmon, respectively. The results obtained suggest two adsorption stages characterized by the formation of strong and weak bonds.     

Ultra thin Al film on the W(110) surface

We have investigated the surface structure of the Al/W(110) surface using low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and low energy ion scattering spectroscopy (ISS). We observe a p(2 × 1) double domain LEED image for the 0.5 ML Al/W(110) surface at annealing temperature 850 °C. We found that 0.5 ML Al atoms cover on the W(110) surface uniformly but do not form 3 or 2-dimensional islands. We also measured the Al adsorption site at the Al/W(110)-p(2 × 1) surface using ISS. We found that Al atoms adsorbed at the center of the bridge site. The height of the adsorbed Al atoms is determined to be 2.18 ± 0.15 Å above the W surface layer.     

Atomic structure of the scandium (0001) surface

The atomic structure of the scandium (0001) surface has been determined through a lowenergy-electron-diffraction analysis. Intensity profiles calculated on the basis of different structural models corresponding to different terminations of the bulk structure were compared to the experimental data. The comparison showed that the surface of scandium terminated in hep stacking and that the outermost layer spacing is 2.59 ± 0.02 Å corresponding to a ～2% contraction with respect to the bulk spacing (2.64 Å).     

Passivation of n-GaAs (100) surface by a Langmuir-Blodgett film

We report the results of passivation of n-GaAs surface by Langmuir-Blodgett films. The capacitance-voltage and current-voltage characteristics in a metal-insulator-semiconductor configuration fabricated using films as insulators, show that the frequency dispersion of the accumulation capacitance is small, indicating that the high frequency capacitance under accumulation is due to the LB film. It has been shown that it reduces the surface barrier characteristic of GaAs surfaces, and may offer hope for unpinning the surface Fermi level. We offer a possible explanation for these findings in terms of the advanced unified defect and the effective work function models.     

Interaction of argon with the Al(100) surface

We present a new method for calculating the interaction energy of a noble gas atom with a metallic surface. This method combines atomic structure and solid state theory techniques and is thus applicable to ground state as well as to excited states of a chemisorbed (physisorbed) atom. We present results for the dipole moment and the interaction energy of Ar onto Al(100).