Two principal forms of oxygen chemisorption on the surface of CdSe and
CdS gas sensors have been revealed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscop
y and thermal desorption mass spectrometry experiments. For the chemis
orbed O-2(-), the characteristic binding energy of the O 1s electrons
is found to be 531.8+/-0.2 eV and for the chemisorbed O-, 531.1+/-0.2
eV. The concentration of the chemisorbed oxygen increases when the sur
face of the investigated sensor is enriched or doped with metal atoms.