Growth and surface structural study of tin oxide films on Ag(001)

Abstract Tin oxide was prepared by reactive deposition of Sn in an O 2 atmosphere at both room temperature (RT) and high temperature (HT) at 573 K as well from one monolayer to ten monolayer film coverages. The grown films were studied at RT by a combination of x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS). At RT, the coexistence of both SnO and SnO 2 was confirmed by XPS and valence band data with more SnO being formed at higher coverage. However, only one oxidised phase of tin oxide mainly due to SnO 2 was formed at HT for most of the coverage. Presence of SnO was also confirmed only at the highest coverage studied here for HT. A multidomain LEED pattern having square (1 × 1) domains at 30° to each other was reported for low coverage of tin oxide at RT, which with an increase in coverage, gives rise to diffused background confirming no ordered tin oxide was formed. The similar multidomain structure was also noticed for HT growth from lower coverage up to 5 monolayer equivalent (MLE) coverage which then transformed into hexagonal multidomain LEED pattern for higher coverage confirming the presence of clear oxide phase, unlike the RT growth case.