Nuclear stimulated desorption of isolated cadmium atoms from structured surfaces

Measurements of nuclear stimulated desorption (NSD) of Cd-107 from a (111) nickel single crystal surface covered with a fraction of a monolayer of pal ladium were performed. The total desorption probability and the polar angul ar distribution were determined. An anisotropic distribution with a minimum in the upward direction was found. This distribution is compared with mole cular dynamics calculations and is shown to be consistent with desorption f rom step sites. It is also qualitatively consistent with independent result s on similar systems obtained by the perturbed angular correlation method u sing Cd-111m. Th, total desorption probability agrees with the predicted va lue. Future work required to turn NSD into a useful analytic tool is discus sed. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.