Full hemispherical photoelectron diffraction and Fermi surface mapping

The routine measurement of full hemispherical photoemission intensity maps gives us the possibility for the combined investigation of structural and electronic phenomena at surfaces. As an example the growth of ultrathin films of Co on Cu(111) is studied as a function of film thickness. While X-ray photoelectron diffraction (XPD) shows the early appearance of stacking faults as a precursor of the hcp structure, Fermi surface maps reveal the very fast evolution of the Co Fermi surface that can be compared to measurements on a clean Co(0001) crystal. For the system O/Rh(111), XPD brings up important structural clues, relating changes in surface reactivity to small amounts of subsurface oxygen, which forces adjacent oxygen atoms to occupy new and more reactive adsorption sites. In the course of this last study we observed for the first time the weak backscattering signals in the angular pattern of adsorbate emission. These cone-like features are extremely sensitive to the adsorbate–substrate bond length.