MEDIUM ENERGY ION SCATTERING STUDIES OF THIN Pd FILMS ON Al(111) AND Al(110) SURFACES

R.J. Smith(1), A.W. Denier van der Gon(2), and J.F. van der Veen(2)

(1) Physics Department, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717*
(2) FOM-Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics, Kruislaan 407, 1098 SJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands


High-resolution ion backscattering, LEED and AES have been used to study the reaction of thin Pd layers with Al(111) and Al(110) surfaces. The results are not consistent with the layered growth models presented previously for these systems, but show instead that alloy formation occurs on both surfaces for a range of Pd coverages from 0 to about 7x10^15 at/cm^2. For the Al(111) surface the results suggest that an AlPd compound grows on the substrate with sufficient order to allow subsequent epitaxial growth of Pd(111) on the AlPd compound. For the Al(110) surface more Al atoms are displaced at the interface, resulting in a more Al-rich alloy than that observed on the Al(111) surface. The difficulties of using AES measurements to distinguish between alloy formation and Stranski-Krastanov growth morphologies are discussed.

*Work supported by NSF

Surface Science 223, 103 (1990)

For information on this publication or to request a reprint send mail to smith@physics.montana.edu

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