Ellipsometric study of oxygen adsorption and the carbon monoxide-oxygen interaction on ordered and damaged Ag(111)

The adsorption of oxygen on Ag(111) has been studied by ellipsometry in conjunction with AES and LEED. The oxygen pressure varied between 10^?5 and 10^?3 Torr and the crystal temperature between room temperature and 250° C. Changes in the Auger spectrum and the LEED pattern upon oxygen adsorption are very small. Oxygen coverages were derived from the changes in the ellipsometric parameter Δ. At room temperature a maximum coverage is reached within a few minutes. Its value increases with the damage produced by the preceding argon ion bombardment. The sticking coefficient derived from the initial rate of Δ-change amounts to 3 × 10^?5 for well-annealed surfaces and 2.5 ? 5 × 10^?4 for damaged surfaces. After evacuation no desorption takes place. Other types of adsorption, associated with much larger changes in Δ, were observed upon bombardment with oxygen ions and with oxygen activated by a hot filament. The reaction of CO with adsorbed oxygen was studied ellipsometrically at room temperature in the CO pressure range 10^?7–10^?6 Torr. The initial reaction rate is proportional to the CO pressure. The reaction probability (number of oxygen atoms removed per incident CO molecule) is 0.36.