ON THE GROWTH OF NI ON CU(100)

The growth of Ni on Cu(100) has been studied by X-ray photoelectron sp ectroscopy (XPS). The thermal stability of the submonolayer phase was investigated using XPS forward scattering measurements. The results su ggest that the surface alloying starts already around 260-300 K. The v ariations of Ni2p(3/2) binding energy and line profile with coverage w ere studied in order to obtain information about the Ni growth mode an d lateral morphology of the Ni overlayer. Furthermore, CO titration wa s used to study the distribution of Ni atoms in the initial stages of overlayer growth. The experiments lend support to a model of Ni monola yer development based on the gradual compression of isolated Ni adatom s.