Bonding geometry and electronic structure of the chalcogens on Ni(111)

Abstract

The behavior of oxygen, sulfur, selenium, and tellurium on Ni(111) has been investigated using angular-resolved photoemission, LEED, programmed thermal desorption, and work function measurements. The synthesis of these measurements suggest bonding in a site of C3v symmetry and the existance of three nondegenerate orbitals participating in the nickel–chalcogen bond. Changes which occur in orbital energy levels as the adsorbate is varied from oxygen to tellurium are explained in terms of a tight-binding calculation of chalcogen bonding to a triangular cluster of nickel atoms in a pyramidal configuration.