Influence of the metal nanofilm-semiconductor interface on surface properties of the nanofilm: The CO-Yb-Si(111) system

The influence of the “ytterbium nanofilm-single-crystal silicon substrate” interface on properties of the films has been investigated. It has been shown that, if the film thickness is less than 10 monolayers, the Friedel oscillations (standing waves of electron density) generated by the interface affect the work function of the films and the rate of adsorption of CO molecules on their surface. In turn, the CO molecules modify the electronic structure of ytterbium during adsorption on the surface of nanofilms by transforming ytterbium from the divalent to trivalent state. The completely filled layer of adsorbed CO molecules consists of two phases. The first phase is a two-dimensional gas whose molecules weakly interact with each other, but their lone electron pairs form a donor-acceptor bond with the Yb 5d level; as a result, this level is located below the Fermi level and the metal transforms into the trivalent state. After filling the two-dimensional phase, the second (island) phase, in which the CO molecule are bound by horizontal π-bonds, begins to grow. The formation of these bonds becomes possible due to the filling of 2π states in the molecules upon compaction of the adsorbed layer. The considered the adsorbed two-phase layer is responsible for the complete transition of ytterbium into the trivalent state.     

Kinetics of desorption from adsorbed layers formed by two-dimensional islands and by a two-dimensional gas

The kinetics of desorption from the adsorbed layers formed by two-dimensional (2D) islands and by a 2D gas of single atoms is considered for the case when the flux of adsorbate atoms from the gaseous phase reaches the surface. The effect of this flux on the desorption kinetics is analyzed. It is shown that this effect can be disregarded when the islands are in equilibrium with the surrounding 2D gas. The possibilities of determining the energy required for the removal of atoms from 2D islands to a vacuum are considered for the case of the absence of equilibrium in adsorbed layers. The conditions under which such a determination is possible are formulated, and the corresponding recommendations for experimental studies are worked out.     

Effect of adsorbed oxygen on the properties of ytterbium nanofilms

The effect of O₂ molecules adsorbed on the surface of ytterbium nanofilms on the properties of the volume and surface of these films has been studied. It has been shown that the dependence of the work function of the films on the concentration of O₂ adsorbed molecules exhibits a nonmonotonic behavior: originally, the work function decreases, to start increasing again on passing through a minimum. At high oxygen doses, this increase stops. Adsorption of oxygen brings about a fundamental rearrangement of the Auger spectra of ytterbium; indeed, the Auger peaks observed before oxygen adsorption disappear completely after its deposition on the surface, to become replaced by other ones. The results obtained qualitatively agree with similar observations amassed by the present authors in studies of adsorption of CO molecules on the surface of ytterbium films. These results should be ascribed to a manifestation of complex processes of electron exchange between these films and adsorbed O₂ molecules. These processes end up in a qualitative rearrangement of the electronic structure of the part of film volume that borders the surface, where ytterbium transforms into the d metal.     

Valence transition investigation in the O2–Yb–Si(111) system by means of the angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy method

Physics of the Solid State - Investigations of the Yb–Si(111) and O2–Yb–Si(111) structures are carried out by means of the angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy method, and...     

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy of the Ytterbium Nanofilm Surface and Layers of Oxygen Molecules Adsorbed on It

Technical Physics - The surfaces of Yb–Si(111) and O–Yb–Si(111) structures (with a thickness of ytterbium nanofilms of 16 monolayers (6.08 nm)) have been investigated for the...     

Effect of temperature and surface coverage on the samarium interaction with Si(111)

The interaction of Sm atoms with Si(111) has been studied. The study was carried out by low-energy electron diffraction, Auger-electron spectroscopy, and contact-potential difference method over a broad range of temperatures (from room temperature to 1140 K) at which samarium was deposited on the silicon sample surface. The surface coverage varied from zero to 55 monolayers. It was shown that the shape of the low-energy Auger spectrum of samarium depends on coverage, and that its variation correlates with that of the Sm atom valence state. It was established that no ordered structures form when samarium is deposited on silicon at room temperature, and that partial mixing of the metal and semiconductor atoms takes place in the initial stages of this process. If samarium is deposited on heated silicon (900 and 1140 K), an adsorbed film (transition layer), whose structure is determined by the coverage and temperature, is the first to form. After that, three-dimensional silicide crystallites begin to grow on this transition layer. Their shape depends on the substrate temperature. This dependence accounts for the relation between temperature and the coverage at which the crystallites coalesce. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 1937–1944 (October 1998)     

The Effect of Contact Potential Difference on Current–Voltage Characteristics in Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy

Technical Physics - Using the energy diagrams of asymmetric potential barriers, which are formed during the contact of two metals with different work functions, the effect of the contact potential...     

Electrostatic Nature of Size Dependences of Adsorption Properties of Ytterbium Nanofilms Grown on the Surface of Silicon: the CO–Yb–Si(111) System

The adsorption of CO molecules onto ytterbium nanofilms with their thickness varying from 1 to 16 monolayers is studied. The dependences of the number of adsorbed CO molecules (adsorption isotherms) and the work function of ytterbium films on the dose of carbon monoxide are examined. It is demonstrated that both the number of adsorbed molecules and the work function depend (under equal conditions) on the nanofilm thickness; in other words, a size effect is revealed. It is found that this size effect is induced by the electrostatic interaction between the conduction electrons of ytterbium and the electrons localized on the nanofilm surface, which establish bonding between the surface and CO molecules. This interaction depends on the film thickness and limits the number of CO molecules that may be adsorbed onto the surface of a film with a given thickness.

     

Transformation of auger electron spectra of ytterbium nanofilms under the action of adsorbed carbon monoxide and oxygen molecules

The transformation of the Auger electron spectra of ytterbium nanofilms as a result of chemisorption of CO and O₂ molecules on their surface has been studied. It has been shown that the adsorption of these molecules is accompanied by a radical transformation of the electronic structure of nanofilms, during which the 5d level of ytterbium drops below the Fermi level. As a consequence, one electron can transfer from the 4f level to the 5d level. In turn, this provides the conditions for a giant resonance 4d → 4f and a subsequent Coster-Kronig supertransition 4d ⁹4f ¹⁴ → 4d ¹⁰4f ¹² + Auger electron, which is accompanied by emission of one 4f electron to vacuum. The results obtained have demonstrated that molecules chemisorbed on the surface of nanofilms can cause qualitative changes in the properties of the surface and in the bulk of these films. It is obvious that this offers a means for designing nanoobjects with controlled properties.