Phase transitions in physisorbed films on cadmium (0001): comparison with graphite (0001)

Physical adsorption of simple molecules has been studied experimentally on cadmium (0001). Adsorption isotherms of Kr and CF₄ at 77.3 K show a first-order phase transition in the first layer, characteristic of adsorption on uniform substrates.

The nature of the phase transition on cadmium (0001) in the first layer is investigated for Kr and CF₄ by a thermodynamic approach in comparison with results obtained earlier on graphite (0001).

From the comparison between the two uniform substrates, we show that (1) cadmium (0001) has a less attractive force field than graphite (0001); and (2) like graphite (0001), cadmium (0001) is a very uniform surface suitable for studying two-dimensional phases according to the Gibbsian formulation.