Influence of chemisorbed oxygen on the growth of europium phases on V(110)

Abstract

A structural and spectroscopic study of Eu exotic phases grown on V(110) reveals the large influence of chemisorbed oxygen on the growth process. While hexagonal Eu layers are obtained on a clean $(1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1)\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{V}(110)$ surface, three-dimensional (3D) growth of pure Eu fcc islands is induced by the presence of the oxygen-$c(6\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2)$ surface reconstruction of V(110). A detailed analysis shows that this Eu phase exhibits a $9.5%$ reduction of the first-neighbor distance with respect to the bcc phase. In both cases (2D and 3D growth of Eu), singular Eu $4d$ photoemission spectra are observed.