Hydrogen adsorption states at the external and internal palladium surfaces of a palladium-silicon dioxide-silicon structure

Abstract

The hydrogen adsorption states at the external and internal Pd surfaces of a hydrogen sensitive Pd-SiO2-Si (Pd-MOS) structure have been studied in high and ultrahigh vacuum. The steady-state response of the Pd-MOS structure (due to the hydrogen present at the Pd-SiO2 interface) shows a logarithmic dependence on hydrogen pressure, independent of external surface condition. The heat of adsorption of the internal surface is coverage dependent and described by ΔHi =ΔH0(1-aθi) giving ΔH0≊1.4 eV/molecule with a=1. Thus, there are always hydrogen adsorption states available at the internal surface independent of the applied pressure. This is why the Pd-MOS structure works as a hydrogen sensor over a large pressure range. The importance of a surface cleaning procedure in order to obtain an atomically clean Pd surface after Ar sputtering is pointed out. It is observed that a, probably carbon, contaminated Pd surface has hydrogen adsorption properties similar to those of the palladium-oxide interface. A clean Pd surface has adsorption sites with smaller heat of adsorptions than those at the interface. Furthermore, these adsorption sites give an increase in work function, whereas a decrease in work function is observed at the interface. It is pointed out that the difference in the heat of adsorption between surface and interface hydrogen adsorption sites means that hydrogen atoms are detected at the interface even when the hydrogen coverage at the clean surface is very small.