Electronic excitations on clean and adsorbate covered Pd(111) by angle resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy

Electronic excitations on clean and adsorbate covered Pd(111) have been investigated by angle resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy. Primary energies in the range of 50–1000 eV were chosen for strong specular reflection to emphasize elastic diffraction-before-loss processes. The clean Pd spectra are compared with optical data, and good correspondence is found for the optical limit (q ? 0). The loss features are interpreted in terms of plasmon resonances and interband transitions within the framework of a recent band structure calculation. Virtually no dispersion is observed for the intrinsic Pd losses, but vertical interband transitions decay fast in the dispersive (q ≠ 0) spectra. Two adsorbate systems are investigated in this study: CO in a disordered adsorbate layer and bromine in a well-ordered $\text{(}\text{3×}\text{3 )R30°}$ structure. Adsorbate derived loss features are generally prominent in the nonspecular (q ≠ 0) spectra. While no dispersion is seen for the intramolecular 13.5 eV excitation of adsorbed CO, dispersion up to 1 eV is found for the Br 4p derived loss feature of the ordered overlayer. This is discussed in terms of a two-dimensional adsorbate band structure of bromine.