Kinetics of electron-stimulated oxygen adsorption on the lead surface

Auger electron spectroscopy has been used to study the kinetics of oxygen adsorption on lead for two cases, i.e., during continuous electron irradiation (0–1000 eV) and without it, depending on exposure to oxygen at a partial pressure of 10^?6 Torr and room temperature. The maximum exposure to oxygen is 5000 L. Lead exposure to oxygen of several hundred Langmuirs with simultaneous irradiation with low-energy electrons shifts Auger lead peaks by 1 eV toward lower energies, which is explained by electron-stimulated adsorption (ESA). It has been shown that ESA is observed only at electron energies below 300 eV; at higher energies, electron-stimulated desorption of oxygen dominates.