A molecular beam study of alkali promotion of NO sticking on Si(100): Local promotion in a single collision regime

Abstract

Alkali–metal (K and Cs) promotion for sticking of nitrogen oxide molecule (NO) on Si(100) has been studied using a molecular beam method combined with an Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and a laser ionization spectroscopy [resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI)]. The observed sticking probability S shows a good correlation with alkali coverage, indicating that the alkali promotion is local in nature. The decay of S as a function of NO dose as observed with AES shows an anticorrelation with the evolution of the direct-inelastic scattering intensity as obtained with REMPI. This fact is understood as follows: since the direct-inelastic scattering occurs mostly in a single collision process with the surface, local alkali promotion is realized in a single collision of the incident NO molecule with the alkali–metal adsorbates. The decay of S as a function of NO dose is then analyzed with a reaction cross section. The evaluated reaction cross sections are close to the area of the 2×1 unit cell, and thus the estimated reaction radii are almost equal to but somewhat larger than the covalent radius of a K atom, with a increasing trend with alkali coverage. The alkali promotion is explained in terms of local electron charge transfer from the nonionized alkali adatoms to the affinity level of NO molecules based on the adatom density of state around EF.