Growth of Eu on Pd(111): AES, photoemission and RHEED studies

Abstract Growth of Eu ultra thin films on a Pd(111) single crystal at T = 300K, has been studied by spectroscopic (XPS, UPS, AES) and structural (RHEED) methods. Eu atoms of the first deposited monolayers are divalent and form a 2 × 2 arrangement on the Pd(111) surface. For further Eu coverages, this ordered structure smears out and Eu atoms at the interface become trivalent; the fine structure modifications of Pd AES and XPS spectra strongly suggest an interdiffusion process between Eu and Pd.