The electron density decay length effect on surface reactivity

Abstract

The correlation between the thickness-dependent oxidation rate of ultrathin Al films onW(110) and the quantum-well states (QWS) resulting from electron confinement in the Alfilm has been explored by combined x-ray photoemission electron microscopy (XPEEM),low energy electron microscopy (LEEM), and first-principles calculations. Hybridizationwith substrate electronic states is observed to alter the film electronic structure, stronglymodifying the electron density decay length in vacuum. The decay length, rather than thedensity of states at the Fermi energy, is found to dominate the observed reactivity trends.