Els and leed study of CO adsorption on Pd(001) and Pd(001) 6° [110]

LEED studies indicate that both CO and carbon adsorb differently on Pd(001) surfaces with and without steps. However, electron energy loss spectra for Pd(001) samples with and without ordered steps show no detectible surface structural sensitivity to CO adsorption. For both samples an additional loss feature at 13.5 eV appears upon CO adsorption. This feature is identified as a (1π?5σ) to 2π^★ type intramolecular electronic excitation, and it appears to be a universal feature of molecular CO adsorption on metals. A second loss expected in the 6–7 eV range associated with a d to 2π^★ type charge-transfer excitation was not detected. Either the transition probability is low for this excitation or hybridization with surface plasmons may obscure its identification.