Thermal desorption of interacting molecules from mixed adlayers

A Monte Carlo simulation method is used to study thermal desorption of gas molecules from mixed adlayers containing two species. The effects of lateral interactions among adatoms and initial surface coverage on the desorption spectra are examined. It is shown that attractive lateral interactions lead to sharper peaks and that desorption occurs at high temperatures, whereas repulsive interactions lead to multiple peak spectra. It is found that interactions between unlike molecules affect the spectra for species with lower desorption energy only, and that the two species desorb together only in certain cases. Lateral interactions also affect the desorption kinetics significantly and very different behavior for the two species may be obtained.     

Thermal desorption of surface phosphorus on Si(100) surfaces

Thermal desorption of phosphorus on Si(100) surfaces has been investigated by varying the phosphorus coverage from zero to one monolayer (ML). The reaction path of phosphorus desorption is complicated and strongly dependent upon the phosphorus coverage. In the thermal desorption spectra, there are three apparent desorption peaks at 750, 850 and 1000°C. The entire phosphorus atoms on the surface desorb as P₂ through recombinative reactions irrespective of the desorption temperature and the coverage. In the lower coverages below 0.2 ML, the thermal desorption spectra are characterized by a single peak at 900°C which is considered to be the desorption from Si---P heterodimers. At higher coverages exceeding 0.2 ML, it is considered that three desorption schemes from P---P, Si---P dimers and defects coexist in the reaction stage.     

Adsorption spectroscopy by polariton-induced desorption (ASPID)

A new spectroscopic technique is proposed as a means of determining the energy and momentum of adsorbed atoms and molecules. The method, abbreviated to ASPID (adsorption spectroscopy by polariton-induced desorption), uses surface phonon polaritons (SPPs) to desorb atoms. Because one may create nearly-monoenergetic SPPs, the binding energy range is determined directly from the spectrum of final energies. A kinematical analysis may be used to analyze adatom momenta, and hence band structures. The angular distribution of the SPP-desorbed atoms may be used to monitor adsorbed-film temperature. We provide an estimate of the SPP desorption rate, and conclude that the proposed experiment is feasible.     

Measurement of fast desorption kinetics of D2, from tungsten by laser induced thermal desorption

A laser heating technique for studying fast surface processes has been applied in an initial study to the thermal desorption of D₂ from a polycrystalline tungsten sample. This technique is a means for measuring surface reactions at rates, concentrations, and temperatures that approach conditions of technical interest, but with the high degree of definition and control made possible with an ultrahigh vacuum apparatus. The method is analogous to the fast temperature jump method used for studying reactions in condensed phases, and can sort out elementary processes that have differing activation energies. The variation of total flux desorbed with maximum surface temperature reached and initial surface coverage serves, with the aid of a model kinetic rate expression, to determine the desorption rate parameters. It is shown that the desorption of D₂ from W at rates of 5 × 10⁷ monolayers/sec is governed by the same kinetics as obtained by extrapolating previous measurements made at a rate about 10⁵ times slower. The surface is subjected to a sufficiently fast and large temperature rise to desorb surface atoms or molecules in a time short compared to the range of flight times to a mass spectrometer detector. In this way the velocity distribution of the desorbing species may be determined. This along with the surface temperature history gives additional information on the reaction rate model and also whether the species are emerging in translational thermal equilibrium with the surface. In the present experiments a significant number of desorbatedesorbate collisions occur. Corrections are made for the collision effects in the interpretation of the data. It is shown how modifications of the technique can be made to substantially eliminate these effects. The present conditions were laser pulse width of 3 × 10^?8 sec and surface temperature rise of 300 to 3000 K.     

Atomic hydrogen desorption from thin palladium hydride films

It has been proved that hydrogen atoms desorb from the surface of a decomposing thin palladium hydride film. A thin gold film deposited and sintered in situ was used as a selective adsorbent for atomic hydrogen. The TDMS (thermal desorption mass spectrometry) technique was applied to detect the adsorption of hydrogen on gold and to determine the amount adsorbed.     

Diffusion effects on thermal desorption spectra of hydrogen from (111) surfaces of diamond-type crystals

We study the thermal desorption of atoms located in subsurface interstitial sites at the (111) surface of crystals with a diamond-type structure. From these sites they may either desorb or diffuse deeper into the crystal. A set of master equations is set up to describe the resulting random walk problem, and its solution yields both the desorption rate and total desorbed amount, as a function of time for constant temperature thermal desorption, or of temperature for flash desorption with a constant heating rate. Unequal values of the desorption and diffusion probabilities are allowed and the effect of initial occupation of deeper interstitial sites as well, is considered. In the latter case the desorption rate curve shows a double peak when the probabilities favour desorption, and in all cases a distinct long time or high temperature tail of the peak is found to result from diffusion. Based on this study, a model of H adsorption on Si(111) is presented and shown to explain several features of the experimental results of Schulze and Henzler.     

The detection by SERS of resonantly excited desorption of pyridine from silver island films by IR laser absorption

We have shown that when a very thin film of pyridine about two or three monolayers thick on a silver island film is exposed to a pulsed CO₂ laser line whose frequency corresponds to that of a pyridine vibrational mode the physisorbed molecules within the pyridine film can be desorbed even at liquid He temperatures. It is interesting that this observation was first made using surface enhanced Raman scattering. Experimental results are presented from which it is concluded that the phenomenon can be described as resonantly excited desorption. The absorbed IR energy seems to be localized within the pyridine film and the silver film and thermallized to some degree causing some of the physisorbed molecules to desorb. Analysis of the SERS spectra before and after the resonantly excited desorption has enabled us to separate out the SERS spectra due to the physisorbed pyridine and the chemisorbed pyridine.     

Adsorption and angle-resolved electron-stimulated desorption of CCl4 on Ru(0001)

The adsorption and electron-stimulated desorption of CCl₄ on Ru(0001) have been studied at 100 K using a variety of surface analytical techniques, including thermal desorption spectroscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, low-energy ion scattering, and mass and angle-resolved electron-stimulated desorption (ESDIAD). CC1₄ is found to dissociate partially for fractional monolayer coverages, and to adsorb molecularly above a coverage of 13%. Upon electron bombardment, Cl⁺ ions are found to desorb with their angular distribution directed along the surface normal; this implies that CC1₄ orients with one C-C1 bond normal to the surface. The total yield of Cl⁺ increases linearly with increasing molecular CC1₄ coverage up to one monolayer, which implies that Cl⁺ stems mainly from molecular CCl₄ and that interadsorbate quenching is not significantly affecting the desorption yield. Beyond a coverage of 1 ML, the Cl⁺ yield continues to increase, and starts leveling off after 2 ML. We estimate the yield from a thick layer of CCl⁴ to be of the order of 3 × 10⁻⁸ ions/electron. The angular distribution of the desorbing Cl⁺ ions widens with increasing CCl₄ exposure. Besides Cl⁺, higher mass fragments of CCl₄, such as CCl⁺, CCl₂⁺ and CCl₃⁺ are also found to desorb from multilayers upon electron bombardment.     

Electron-stimulated desorption of europium atoms from an oxidized tungsten surface

The yield of europium atoms in electron-stimulated desorption from Eu layers adsorbed on the surface of oxidized tungsten was studied with a surface-ionization detector as a function of the incident-electron energy, surface coverage by europium, and degree of tungsten oxidation. The yield of Eu atoms measured as a function of electron energy exhibits a distinct resonant character with peaks at electron energies corresponding to europium and tungsten core-level ionization energies. The peaks associated with the europium ionization reach a maximum intensity at europium coverages less than 0.1 and decrease subsequently to zero with increasing coverage, while the peaks due to tungsten ionization pass through the maximum intensity at a monolayer europium coverage. The coverage corresponding to the maximum europium atom yield grows with increasing tungsten oxidation. The results obtained are accounted for by the formation of the europium and tungsten core excitons. In the first case, the particles desorb in the reverse motion toward the surface of the oxidized tungsten; in the second, they desorb as a result of repulsion between the tungsten core exciton and the EuO molecule.     

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.     

Thermal reaction and desorption behaviors of 2,5-diiodothiophene on clean and passivated Au surfaces

Thermal reactions and desorption behaviors of 2,5-diiodothiophene on Au were studied with temperature programmed desorption (TPD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). Diiodo-substituted hetero-cyclic molecules are an important precursor molecule for photochemical production of conjugated polymers. This paper describes the surface reactions and multilayer structure of 2,5-diiodothiophene in the absence of photon irradiation. 2,5-Diiodothiophene adsorbs molecularly on Au at 100 K. At 200-300 K, the C-I bond of the molecule dissociates producing atomic iodine. The C-I bond cleavage appears to induce further dissociation of the thiophene ring structure. The iodine species desorb at 600-750 K from the surface. The dissociated carbon and sulfur remain on the Au surface even at 800 K. The desorption of thin multilayers occurs at ∼220 K. During the desorption of these layers, a clustering process seems to occur. The desorption of thick multilayer occurs at ∼235 K.     

Adsorption and desorption of no from Rh{111} and Rh{331} surfaces

The adsorption and desorption chemistry of NO on the clean Rh{111} and Rh{331} single crystal surfaces was followed with SIMS, XPS, and LEED. Results suggest dissociative NO adsorption occurs at step and/or defect sites. At saturation coverage there was ～ 10 times more dissociated species on the Rh{331} surface at 300 K than on the Rh{111} surface. On both surfaces two molecular states of NO_ads have been identified as β₁, and β₂ which possess different chemical reactivity. Under the condition of saturation coverage the β₁ and β₂ states are populated on the Rh{111} surface in a different proportion than on the Rh{331} surface. Further, their population on both surfaces is coverage and temperature dependent. When the sample is heated to desorb the saturation overlayer formed on the Rh{111} and Rh{331} crystal surfaces, approximately 50% of the overlayer is found to desorb below ? 400 K primarily from the β₂ state, molecularly as NO(g). Between 300 and 400 K the β₁ state dissociates as binding sites necessary to coordinate N_ads and O_ads are freed by desorption of NO(g).     

Thiophene decomposition on Pd(111) forms S and C4 species: a laser-induced thermal desorption/Fourier transform mass spectrometry study

The data presented here show that Pd(111) can directly activate thiophene decomposition resulting in the deposition of sulfur and the formation of C₄ species, most likely C₄H₄ or possibly C₄H₅, on the surface. Temperature programmed reaction (TPR) studies of a 0.2 L exposure of thiophene show some reversible, but primarily irreversible adsorption. No C- or S-containing reaction products desorb during TPR. However, laser induced thermal desorption (LITD) with Fourier transform mass spectrometry (FTMS) can be used to monitor the surface composition prior to conventional desorption. LITD/FTMS shows that thiophene is stable to approximately 280 K. Above 300 K, 1,3-butadiene is observed. The yield of 1,3-butadiene on the surface, as observed by LITD/FTMS, is estimated to be 30% of the initial thiophene signal.     

Oxygen atom-induced D2 and D2O desorption on D/Si(1 1 1) surfaces

We studied reaction of oxygen atoms with D-terminated Si(1 1 1) surfaces from a desorption point of view. As the D (1 ML)/Si(1 1 1) surface was exposed to O atoms D₂ and D₂O molecules were found to desorb from the surface. The desorption kinetics of D₂ and D₂O molecules exhibited a feature characterized with a quick rate jump at the very beginning of O exposure, which was followed by a gradual increase with a delayed maximum and then by an exponential decrease. The O-induced D₂ desorption spectra as a function of T_s appeared to be very similar to the H-induced D₂ desorption spectrum from the D/Si(1 1 1) surfaces. Possible mechanisms for the O-induced desorption reactions were discussed.     

Field emission microscopy of adsorption and desorption of residual gas molecules on a carbon nanotube tip

Field emission of electrons from multiwall carbon nanotubes has been investigated by field emission microscopy (FEM) in ultra-high vacuum. A carbon nanotube, at the end of which at least six pentagons exist to make a closed cap, gives an FEM pattern consisting of bright pentagonal rings if the nanotube surface is clean. Adsorption of residual gas molecules is observed as bright spots in the FEM pattern, giving rise to an abrupt increase in the emission current. Adsorbed molecules seem to reside preferentially on the pentagonal sites where the strong electric field is concentrated. A heat cleaning of the emitter at about 1300 K allows the molecules to desorb, and the nanotube emitter recovers its original clean surface. It has been revealed that the adsorption and desorption of gas molecules are responsible for stepwise fluctuation of the emission current.     

A comparative study of the desorption efficiencies in the UV irradiation of molecular van der Waals films above and below the ablation threshold

In the irradiation of thick films of aromatics (C₆H₅Cl and C₆H₅CH₃ enriched with dopants of varying volatilities), the attainment of the threshold is shown to result in qualitatively different ejection characteristics. In particular, the comparison of the desorption efficiencies either of species premixed in the film or of photoproducts formed by the irradiation shows that below the threshold only highly volatile species desorb. In contrast, above the threshold, even highly involatile species are found to be ejected efficiently. The efficient ejection of these species cannot be accounted for by a change in the absorbed energy. Instead, the operation of a non-thermal ejection mechanism is strongly indicated. The results are consistent with the delineation drawn by molecular dynamics simulations [12] for surface vaporization at fluences below the ablation threshold and ejection as a result of pressure buildup above it.     

Heavy-ion induced desorption of deuterium from titanium

The model used in the first part of this investigation is enlarged to take account of the experimentally found inhibition of desorption by gases from the rest-gas atmosphere of the target chamber. The main parameters that can be found by adaptation of a model set of equations are the rate ratios for transfer of chemisorbed atoms in the surface and back, and of the maximal desorption current densities from the surface into the vacuum for deuterium and foreign gases. The desorption cross sections are discussed in relation to the electronic stopping power of the fast ions.     

Electron-stimulated desorption of rare-earth metal atoms

The yield of europium and samarium atoms in electron-stimulated desorption from layers of rare-earth metals (REMs) adsorbed on the surface of oxidized tungsten has been measured as a function of the incident electron energy, surface coverage by REMs, degree of tungsten oxidation, and substrate temperature. The measurements were performed using the time-of-flight method with a surface-ionization-based detector within the substrate temperature interval 140–600 K. The yield studied as a function of electron energy has a resonance character. Overlapping resonance peaks of Sm atoms are observed at electron energies of 34 and 46 eV, and those of Eu atoms, at 36 and 41 eV. These energies correlate well with the REM 5p and 5s core-level excitation energies. The REM yield is a complex function of the REM coverage and substrate temperature. The peaks due to REM atoms are seen at low REM coverages only, and their intensity usually passes through a maximum with increasing coverage and substrate temperature. The concentration dependence of the REM atom yield is affected by the deposition of slow Ba⁺ ions, but only if they are deposited after the REM adsorption. At higher REM coverages, additional peaks are observed at electron energies of 42, 54, and 84 eV, which originate from excitation of the 5p and 5s tungsten levels and result from desorption of SmO and EuO molecules. The temperature dependence of the intensity of these peaks is explained to be due to the order-disorder phase transition. The desorption of REM atoms is the result of their reversed motion through the adsorbed REM layer, and the SmO and EuO molecules desorb due to the formation of an antibonding state between the REM oxide molecules and the tungsten ions.     

Stimulated desorption from CO chemisorbed on Cr(110)

Electron stimulated desorption (ESD) experiments using a time-of-flight pulse counting method are reported for molecular CO chemisorbed on the Cr(110) surface at 90 K. Consistent with previous qualitative observations, negligible CO⁺ and O⁺ desorption signals were measured from the ₁CO overlayer which saturates at 1/4 monolayer. For θ_CO > 0.25, a terminally-bonded (₂CO) binding mode is populated in addition to the existing ∝₁CO binding mode and the ion yield increases sharply. For ₂CO, both O⁺ and CO⁺ ions are observed; the CO⁺ ions desorb with characteristically lower kinetic energies than O⁺ ions. Near saturation coverages of CO(ads), an observed decrease in the O⁺ yield is attributed to adsorbate-adsorbate interactions which reduce the ion desorption probability, as seen in ESD studies of terminally-bonded CO on other metals. These results are considered in the context of two possible models proposed for the ₁CO binding state and related ESD observations for CO chemisorbed on Fe(001) and potassium-promoted Ru(001).