Field emission spectroscopy of bismuth adsorbed on the W(100) surface

Abstract

Adsorption of monolayer amounts of bismuth on the 100 surface plane of tungsten has been studied by probe hole field emission microscopy and electron spectroscopy. Sub-monolayer bismuth forms a relatively strongly bound layer of bismuth-tungsten dipoles with dipole moment μ = (0.18 ± 0.02) × 10 −30C m and polarizability α = (6.3 ± 1.3) × 10 −40J V −2m 2. Changes in work function and their dependence on temperature closely parallel those produced by adsorbed lead which was shown by LEED to form c(2 × 2), p(2 × 2) and (1 × 1) structures. Bismuth is thought to behave in a similar way, but, unlike lead, forms a second monolayer which replicates the first. Electron spectroscopy shows that sub-monolayer bismuth removes the surface state (Swanson) peak and at monolayer coverage a new peak emerges and shifts with increasing coverage. Using Gadzuk's theory, this peak is tentatively attributed to the 2P level in bismuth adatoms which form a p(2 × 2) structure in the first and second monolayers. Its shift with coverage is ascribed to an increase in the local surface field. There remains the difficulty of reconciling the proposed occupation of the 2P level with the observed small positive charge on the bismuth adatom.