The hydrogenated and bare diamond (110) surface: a combined LEED-, XPS-, and ARPES study

Abstract

The atomic and electronic structures of the hydrogenated and hydrogen-free diamond (110) surface are investigated by low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES), and X-ray induced core-level spectroscopy (XPS). From the C 1s core-level spectra, different states of surface termination can be distinguished. The plasma-hydrogenated surface exhibits a surface C 1s component shifted by 0.8 eV towards a higher binding energy, which we attribute to coadsorbed hydrocarbons. During thermal annealing up to 900°C, gradual desorption first of the hydrocarbons and then of hydrogen yields a clean surface with a surface C 1s component shifted by −1.1 eV and an increase in downward band bending of about 1.2 eV compared to the as-prepared surface. From the valence band spectra, we conclude that an essentially hydrogen-terminated surface is maintained at an annealing temperature of 600–800°C. All states of the surface are unreconstructed. After the plasma treatment, the surface reveals monoatomic steps running parallel to the [11̄0] direction. From an analysis of the extinction of LEED reflexes, we conclude that within the chains of surface atoms running along [11̄0], the CC bond length is uniformly altered in a way that keeps the chains undimerized. Finally, for the hydrogen-free surface, an occupied surface band is observed with a dispersion of 0.35 eV between Γ̄ and J̄ that lies entirely below the valence band maximum.