Formation of a metastable ordered surface phase due to competitive diffusion and adsorption kinetics: Oxygen on Pd(100)

Abstract

A metastable c(2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2) structure is formed by atomic oxygen on Pd(100) under conditions of slow diffusion combined with rapid adsorption. We propose that formation of the c(2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2) under these conditions must be controlled by characteristics of the dissociative adsorption event itself.