PHOTOELECTRON-SPECTROSCOPY OF GOLD AND SILVER ULTRA-THIN FILMS ON V(100)

Gold ultra-thin films deposited on V(100) surface at 120 and 300 K wer e characterized by AES, UPS and XPS at different stages of film growth and after an annealing treatment. The work function (WF) changed from 4.3 eV at zero Au coverage to 5.6 eV at a bulk-like film. The Au 5d s plitting at low coverages was 1.4 eV. At the same time, the Au 4f peak s shifted to lower BE, increased their splitting by 0.2 eV and kept th eir FWHM constant. Heating the samples to 1500 K induced no Au desorpt ion but rather alloying started at a moderate temperature which depend ed on the film thickness. Upon alloying the core levels and valence ba nd of gold shifted to higher BE. The Au/V(100) is compared with the Ag /V(100) system represented here with the UP spectra of several selecte d coverages and annealing experiments of the 5 ML Ag film.