Low energy electron loss spectroscopic study of Pd-Si(111) system

Effect of Pd deposition on a clean Si(111) surface was studied by ELS and AES methods for submonolayer [1 ML = 7.8 × 10¹⁴atomscm^-2forSi(111)] to several tens of monolayers. ELS spectra showed that the electronic nature of Pd-Si bonding for ? 1 ML of Pd coverage is different from Pd₂Si formed for ? 3 ML. Namely, it was shown that some critical thickness for Pd on Si(111) exist for inducing interfacial intermixing reaction at room temperature.