Adsorption of oxygen on clean single crystal faces of aluminium

Auger electron spectroscopy and work function measurements have been used to study the interaction of clean Al(111) and Al(100) faces with oxygen at low pressure near room temperature. The results for the two faces differ strongly. Thus, the sticking probability of the (111) face decreases rapidly with coverage, while the work function increases slightly, by 0.1 eV at 200 L. In contrast, the sticking probability of the (100) faces goes through a maximum, whereas the work function decreases almost linearly with coverage, the total decrease at 200 L being 0.5–0.8 eV. The shape of the Al L_{2, 3}VV spectrum from oxidized Al(100) is independent of coverage, and it is in fact very similar to previously reported spectra from oxidized polycrystalline aluminium. The corresponding spectrum from Al(111) exhibits large changes with oxygen coverage and shows a previously unreported double peak at ~60 eV. The results are explained on the assumption that oxygen adsorbs randomly on the (111) face, and that thin (~5 Å) islands of Al₂O₃-like oxide form on the (100) face.