The interaction of oxygen with Bi(0001): Kinetic,electronic, and structural features

The interaction of oxygen with clean Bi(0001) was studied for adsorption between 118 and 296 K using LEED, Auger, electron energy loss, and work function measurements. Oxygen adsorption kinetics show an activated process with a dissociative sticking probability (<10^?4) which smoothly decreases over two orders of magnitude up to saturation coverage. Changes in surface electronic properties indicate that an oxide-like bond is formed from the onset of adsorption. There is no evidence for a stable chemisorbed phase. LEED shows simultaneous growth of epitaxial BiO(0001) and a $\text{3}$ overlayer. At 296 K the adsorption terminates after about three equivalent monolayers of BiO(0001). Periodic trends extended from the transition metal series suggest that local and atomic characteristic rather than long-range electronic properties determine the low reactivity of this surface toward O₂.