Surface chirality of CuO thin films

We present X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray photoelectron diffraction (XPD) investigations of CuO thin films electrochemically deposited on an Au(001) single-crystal surface from a solution containing chiral tartaric acid (TA). The presence of enantiopure TA in the deposition process results in a homochiral CuO surface, as revealed by XPD. On the other hand, XPD patterns of films deposited with racemic tartaric acid or the "achiral" meso-tartaric acid are completely symmetric. A detailed analysis of the experimental data using single scattering cluster calculations reveals that the films grown with l(+)-TA exhibit a CuO(1) orientation, whereas growth in the presence of d(-)-TA results in a CuO(11) surface orientation. A simple bulk-truncated model structure with two terminating oxygen layers reproduces the experimental XPD data. Deposition with alternating enantiomers of tartaric acid leads to CuO films of alternating chirality. Enantiospecifity of the chiral CuO surfaces is demonstrated by further deposition of CuO from a solution containing racemic tartaric acid. The pre-deposited homochiral films exhibit selectivity toward the same enantiomeric deposition pathway.     

Surface investigation of intermetallic PdGa(111)

The intermetallic PdGa is a highly selective and potent catalyst in the semihydrogenation of acetylene, which is attributed to the surface stability and isolated Pd atom ensembles. In this context PdGa single crystals of form B with (111) orientation were investigated by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), X-ray photoelectron diffraction (XPD), and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) to study the electronic and geometric properties of this surface. UPS and thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) were used to probe the chemisorption behavior of CO. The PdGa(111) surface exhibits a (1 × 1) LEED and a pronounced XPD pattern indicating an unreconstructed bulk-truncated surface. Low-temperature STM reveals a smooth surface with a (1 × 1) unit cell. No segregation occurs, and no impurities are detected by XPS. The electronic structure and the CO adsorption properties reveal PdGa(111) to be a bulk-truncated intermetallic compound with Pd-Ga partial covalent bonding.     

Angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

In this review, various aspects of angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ARXPS) as applied to solid state- and surface chemical- studies are discussed. Special requirements for $\text{instrumentation}$ are first considered. The use of $\text{grazing-emission}$ angles to enhance surface sensitivity and study surface concentration profiles of various types is then discussed. Various effects that may limit the accuracy of such measurements such as surface roughness, electron refraction, and elastic scattering are considered. Several examples of surface-specific electronic structure changes as studied by grazing-emission ARXPS (e.g., valence-band narrowing and core-level shifts) are also reviewed. The use of $\text{grazing-incidence}$ geometries for surface enhancement is also briefly considered. Single-crystal studies providing additional types of information via ARXPS are next discussed. For core-level emission from single-crystal substrates or adsorbed overlayers, $\text{x-ray photoelectron diffraction (XPD)}$ is found to produce considerable fine structure in polar- or azimuthal- scans of intensity. Such XPD effects can be very directly related to the atomic geometry near a surface, for example, through simple intramolecular or intermolecular scattering processes. A straightforward single scattering or kinematical theory also appears to describe such effects rather well, thus far permitting several structures to be solved by analyses of azimuthal intensity scans. Likely future developments and possible limitations of such XPD structure studies are also discussed. Finally, $\text{valence-band ARXPS}$ is considered, and it is shown that pronounced direct-transition effects can be observed provided that the specimen Debye-Waller factor is not too small. A simple free-electron final-state model is found to predict these direct-transition effects very well, and future studies at low temperatures and with higher angular resolution seem promising.     

Structural study of NO adsorbed on the reconstructed Pt(110)-(1 x 2) surface with X-ray photoelectron diffraction and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy

The adsorption structure of NO on the reconstructed Pt(110)-(1 x 2) surface was studied with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray photoelectron diffraction (XPD), low-energy scanned-angle photoelectron diffraction (LESA-PD), and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. The experiments were performed at 180 K, where no surface lifting from (1 x 2) to (1 x 1) takes place after NO adsorption. XPS indicates that the (1 x 2) unit cell of the Pt(110) surface contains 1.5 NO molecules at the saturated coverage. XPD and LESA-PD analyses allow us to propose a structural model for the NO adlayer, where two-thirds of the NO molecules in the (1 x 2) unit cell are adsorbed on the atop site of the close-packed Pt rows (ridges) along the [10] direction with an inclined geometry and one-third of the NO molecules adsorb on the bridge site between the Pt ridges with an upright configuration. This model is supported by the N K-edge NEXAFS experiments and is consistent with the recently reported model based on the density functional theory (Orita, H.; Nakamura, I.; Fujitani, T. J. Phys. Chem. B 2005, 109, 10312).     

Full hemispherical photoelectron diffraction and Fermi surface mapping

The routine measurement of full hemispherical photoemission intensity maps gives us the possibility for the combined investigation of structural and electronic phenomena at surfaces. As an example the growth of ultrathin films of Co on Cu(111) is studied as a function of film thickness. While X-ray photoelectron diffraction (XPD) shows the early appearance of stacking faults as a precursor of the hcp structure, Fermi surface maps reveal the very fast evolution of the Co Fermi surface that can be compared to measurements on a clean Co(0001) crystal. For the system O/Rh(111), XPD brings up important structural clues, relating changes in surface reactivity to small amounts of subsurface oxygen, which forces adjacent oxygen atoms to occupy new and more reactive adsorption sites. In the course of this last study we observed for the first time the weak backscattering signals in the angular pattern of adsorbate emission. These cone-like features are extremely sensitive to the adsorbate–substrate bond length.     

On the core-hole photoelectron satellites in N2 and CO

A theoretical study is given of core-level photoelectron satellites with special emphasis on the π?π* satellites in N₂ and CO. The discussion is based on an analysis of the properly constructed zeroth-order manifold of satellite states, and provides simple explanations for both bound state and photoelectron continuum aspects of core-level ionization. Similar to the frozen core static exchange approximation for the single core-hole states, we derive one-particle scattering potentials for the satellite states.     

Photoelectron studies of adsorption and catalysis on the surface of metal single crystals and polycrystals

The potential of photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and its use in studies of the state of the surface and adsorption processes on bulk metal samples (disk single crystals, polycrystalline foil and plates) are discussed. Methods for determining the electronic state of the surface layer and geometrical localization of adsorbed atoms on the metal surface using angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy are described. The spectrokinetic use of the dynamic mode of XPS with high accuracy and time resolution for kinetic studies of fast processes on the surface (adsorption-desorption, reconstruction, reaction, diffusion-segregation) is considered in detail.     

Adsorption of pentacene on filled d-band metal surfaces: long-range ordering and adsorption energy

The growth of pentacene on suitable metallic templates is studied by means of low-energy electron diffraction and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. Highly ordered pentacene single layers can be prepared by deposition on filled d-band metal templates kept at 370 K. The presence of the steps for the Cu(119) vicinal surface and of the Au troughs for the Au(110)-(1 x 2) surface allows the formation of commensurate long-range ordered structures with (3 x 7) and (3 x 6) periodicities, respectively. A detailed analysis of the molecular induced electronic states evolution is performed for different growth morphologies. The adsorption energy of the ordered molecular single layers on the Au(110) surface is lower (1.90 eV) than on the Cu vicinal surface (2.36 eV), where the steps enhance the molecule adsorption energy.     

Surface cosegregationp phenomena on alloys and steels: Structural features and phase transitions

In recent years surface cosegregation phenomena have been studied on various alloy and steel surfaces using surface sensitive techniques such as Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), x-ray photoelectron diffraction (XPD) and low energy electron diffraction (LEED). Surface cosegregation causes the formation of two-dimensional surface compounds which may be stabilized by epitaxy on substrate surfaces of suitable structure and orientation. It has been found that in many cases surface compounds undergo phase transitions which are reviewed in this short report.     

The use of polarized light scattering for the study of the dynamics of the spinodal decomposition

Due to the fact that in a system undergoing spinodal decomposition the long wavelength fluctuations are enhanced, we expect that multiple events can be observed when the passage of light through the sample is measured. We study here the intensity of double scattering for both polarized and depolarized measurements, as a function of time and angle of detection. The time dependence is nonexponential and the dependence on the scattering wave vector is less pronounced than in the case of single scattering. For systems with spherical molecules it is possible to separate double and single scattering contributions if both polarized and depolarized measurements are made. This increases the amount and quality of information about the dynamics of the spinodal decomposition that can be obtained from light scattering experiments.     

Real-time observation of intramolecular proton transfer in the electronic ground state of chloromalonaldehyde: an ab initio study of time-resolved photoelectron spectra

The authors report on studies of time-resolved photoelectron spectra of intramolecular proton transfer in the ground state of chloromalonaldehyde, employing ab initio photoionization matrix elements and effective potential surfaces of reduced dimensionality, wherein the couplings of proton motion to the other molecular vibrational modes are embedded by averaging over classical trajectories. In the simulations, population is transferred from the vibrational ground state to vibrationally hot wave packets by pumping to an excited electronic state and dumping with a time-delayed pulse. These pump-dump-probe simulations demonstrate that the time-resolved photoelectron spectra track proton transfer in the electronic ground state well and, furthermore, that the geometry dependence of the matrix elements enhances the tracking compared with signals obtained with the Condon approximation. Photoelectron kinetic energy distributions arising from wave packets localized in different basins are also distinguishable and could be understood, as expected, on the basis of the strength of the optical couplings in different regions of the ground state potential surface and the Franck-Condon overlaps of the ground state wave packets with the vibrational eigenstates of the ion potential surface.     

Light scattering from acrylate-based polymer dispersed liquid crystals: theoretical considerations and experimental examples

A light scattering (LS) study made using acrylate-based polymer dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs) is presented. The polarized component IVV is measured for blends of a polyacrylate and the liquid crystal (LC) E7 at several compositions. Only the off-state configuration of the droplets with no external fields is considered here. These composites consist commonly of micron-sized nematic LC droplets dispersed in a solid polymer matrix. Theoretical expressions for the scattered intensities in the case of isotropic and anisotropic spherical droplets are given both in the Rayleigh-Gans approximation (RGA) and in the anomalous diffraction approximation (ADA). Series of VV and VH components of the scattering intensities are calculated using the models of Meeten, Stein and coworkers. The model calculations are compared with the light scattering data. This comparison enables us to extract information on the size and the shape of droplets assuming that the size distribution is uniform and that the scattering is due to single droplets, neglecting inter-particle correlation and multiple scattering effects. This paper demonstrates that the LS technique is a useful tool for studying the morphology of PDLC samples and estimating the average size of nematic droplets.     

Photoemission study of praseodymia in its highest oxidation state: the necessity of in situ plasma treatment

A cold radio frequency oxygen plasma treatment is demonstrated as a successful route to prepare clean, well-ordered, and stoichiometric PrO(2) layers on silicon. High structural quality of these layers is shown by x-ray diffraction. So far unobserved spectral characteristics in Pr 3d x-ray photoelectron (XP) spectra of PrO(2) are presented as a fingerprint for praseodymia in its highest oxidized state. They provide insight in the electronic ground state and the special role of praseodymia among the rare earth oxides. They also reveal that former XP studies suffered from a significant reduction at the surface.     

Uracil on Cu(110): a quantitative structure determination by energy-scanned photoelectron diffraction

The local adsorption site of the nucleobase uracil on Cu(110) has been determined quantitatively by energy-scanned photoelectron diffraction (PhD). Qualitative inspection of the O 1s and N 1s soft x-ray photoelectron spectra, PhD modulation spectra, and O K-edge near-edge x-ray adsorption fine structure indicate that uracil bonds to the surface through its nitrogen and oxygen constituent atoms, each in near atop sites, with the molecular plane essentially perpendicular to surface and aligned along the close packed [110] azimuth. Multiple scattering simulations of the PhD spectra confirm and refine this geometry. The Cu-N bondlength is 1.96 ± 0.04 ?, while the Cu-O bondlengths of the two inequivalent O atoms are 1.93 ± 0.04 ? and 1.96 ± 0.04 ?, respectively. The molecule is twisted out of the [110]direction by 11 ± 5°.     

Electronic and adsorption properties of Ce‐Ag layers

Silver has rarely been considered as the catalyst for CO oxidation, although it has been recognized to be very active in several partial oxidation reactions such as ethylene epoxidation and formaldehyde synthesis. It is generally believed that a metal support interaction plays an important role in catalytic processes. Therefore in our study, we examined electronic and adsorption properties of cerium deposited onto a polycrystalline silver substrate. Layers of approximately one monolayer of cerium deposited on a clean silver substrate were examined in situ using surface‐sensitive techniques—by XPS, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and low energy ion scattering (LEIS). CO molecular adsorption was observed by UPS and LEIS; experimental results exhibited CO adsorption on Ce atoms sites. Oxygen adsorption on deposited layers led to a strong oxidation; stoichiometry of oxidized layers was given by amount of adsorbed oxygen and by temperature. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bound and scattering states for a hyperbolic‐type potential in view of a new developed approximation

A new developed approximation is used to obtain the arbitrary l‐wave bound and scattering state solutions of Schrödinger equation for a particle in a hyperbolic‐type potential. For bound state, the energy eigenvalue equation and unnormalized wave functions in terms of Jacobi polynomials are achieved using the Nikiforov–Uvarov (NU) method. Besides, energy eigenvalues are calculated numerically for some states and compared with those given in the literature to check accuracy of our results. For scattering state, the wave function is found in terms of hypergeometric functions. Furthermore, scattering amplitude and phase shifts are achieved using scattering solutions. Also it is shown that the energy eigenvalue equation obtained from analytic property of scattering amplitude is same with one obtained using NU method. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

High Resistive ZnO／Diamond／Si Films Grown via Metal-organic Chemical Vapour Deposition

Piezoelectric ZnO layers with high resistivity for surface acoustic wave applications were prepared on polycrystalline diamond/Si substrates with(Ill) orientation via metal-organic chemical vapour deposition.The characteristics of the films were optimized through different growth methods. The comparative study of the X-ray diffraction spectra and scanning electron microscopic images showed that the final-prepared ZnO films were dominantly c-axis oriented. Zn and O elements in the final prepared ZnO films were investigated through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. According to the statistical results, the n(Zn)/n(O) ratio is near 1. The Raman scattering was also performed in back scattering configuration. E2 mode was observed for the final films, which indicated that the better quality ZnO films had been obtained. The resistivity of the films was also enhanced via the modification of the growth methods.     

Configuration interaction study of X-ray and fast electron scattering factors for light atomic systems

A study of X-ray and fast electron scattering by light atoms and ions has been carried out in the first Born approximation. Coherent and incoherent scattering factors calculated with configuration interaction wave functions are compared with those obtained with Hartree–Fock wave functions. These configuration interaction wave functions involve only L-shell correlation. It is shown that the changes in the coherent scattering factors due to configuration interaction are not negligible and that the electron correlation effects on the incoherent scattering factors are important. Tables of coherent and incoherent scattering factors for light atomic systems are given.     

Helium atom scattering from oxide surfaces.

Many experimental methods of surface science employ electrons or photons of considerable incident energy as probe particles. However, insulating surfaces or delicate physisorbed layers may be damaged by these particles and should, therefore, be analyzed with a gentler probe: He atom scattering allows to determine the symmetry of the unit cell and the detection of phase transitions from diffraction measurements as well as the determination of surface and adsorbate vibrations by time-of-flight resolved detection. Herein, the application of He atom scattering to oxide surfaces is demonstrated on the basis of the examples of MgO and ZnO. MgO(001) is a very inert and stable surface, whereas hydrogen atoms are chemisorbed on the mixed-terminated ZnO(1010) and on both polar faces: ZnO(0001) and ZnO(0001). He atom scattering is very sensitive to the presence of hydrogen on surfaces. In addition ZnO reacts with molecules such as water, CO and CO(2). It is demonstrated that in combination with photoelectron spectroscopy and thermal desorption spectroscopy He atom scattering can also contribute to studies of surface chemistry.