P. Fouquet et G. Witte, Metallization and demetallization of clean and oxygen-covered ultrathin alkali metal films on GaAs(100), APPL SURF S, 180(3-4), 2001, pp. 286-292
The structure and the electronic valence state occupation of ultrathin K, R
b, and Cs films grown on a GaAs(1 0 0)-(4 x 2) surface have been studied by
means of metastable He atom scattering (MHAS), He atom scattering (HAS), a
nd low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) at temperatures ranging from 150
to 400 K. From the survival probability of the scattered He* atoms, detaile
d information on the coverage-dependent filling of the alkali metal valence
states and their emptying upon subsequent exposure to oxygen were derived.
These data reveal for K and Rb a nearly linear band filling with increasin
g coverage starting at about 0.5 ML whereas a more rapid filling is observe
d for Cs which is almost completed at about 0.7 ML Subsequent oxygen adsorp
tion causes a demetallization of the metallic alkali metal monolayers. In c
ase of Cs, a distinct minimum of the He* signal appears at an oxygen exposu
re of about 0.8 L, presumably indicating the onset of subsurface, oxidation
. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.