Modifications to PbTe surfaces and their interactions with oxygen produced by localized electron irradiation

Abstract

The effects of localized electron irradiation of the (111) surface of PbTe are described. These studies show that fast surface diffusion processes considerably extend the lateral range of electron induced effects. The modifications that occurred over a relatively large surface area were compositional, in doping levels in the underlying material and in oxygen sorption mechanisms. The irradiated surface effectively passivated the underlying material against much of its normally strong interactions with oxygen which involve conduction and valence band electrons. A model is set up to account for these observations.