Formation of patchy surface overlayers: Alkali adsorption and alkali carbon monoxide and oxygen coadsorption on Ru(0001) and Ru(10¯10)

Abstract

The retarding-potential and LEED methods are used for obtaining information about the structure and uniformity of alkali (K and Cs) and alkali-coadsorbate (CO and O) layers on Ru(0001) and Ru(10¯10) surfaces at 300 K. It was established that for alkali layers on the anisotropic Ru(10¯10) surface and for mixed coadsorbate layer the shape of the retarding potential curves, used for the work function measurements, becomes anomalous which indicates coexistence of patches of different work function on the surface. LEED data on these patchy surfaces showed the formation of a variety of ordered structures depending on the coadsorbate coverages. On the basis of the existing theory a simple mathematical simulation was performed in an attempt to interpret the observed changes in the retarding potential curves. The possible changes of this curves, induced by the formation of patches with varying contribution to the total retarding potential signal and the advantage of the retarding field method for determination the uniformity of surface overlayers are discussed.