Polycrystalline atoms

Most fiindamental surface science investigations employ single-crystal samples cut along a low-index plane. The single-crystal surface is prepared to be nearly atomically flat. The surface may also be modified in vacuum. For example, it may be exposed to a gas that adsorbs (sticks) to the surface, or a film can be grown onto a sample by evaporation of material. In addition to single-crystal surfaces, many researchers have investigated vicinal, i.e. stepped, surfaces as well as the surfaces of polycrystalline and disordered materials. 

Thin films of metals, alloys and compounds of a few micrometres diickness, which play an important part in microelectronics, can be prepared by die condensation of atomic species on an inert substrate from a gaseous phase. The source of die atoms is, in die simplest circumstances, a sample of die collision-free evaporated beam originating from an elemental substance, or a number of elementary substances, which is formed in vacuum. The condensing surface is selected and held at a pre-determined temperature, so as to affect die crystallographic form of die condensate. If diis surface is at room teiiiperamre, a polycrystalline film is usually formed. As die temperature of die surface is increased die deposit crystal size increases, and can be made practically monocrystalline at elevated temperatures. The degree of crystallinity which has been achieved can be determined by electron diffraction, while odier properties such as surface morphology and dislocation sttiicmre can be established by electron microscopy. 

Fig. 10.4. Ball bearings can be used to simulate how atoms are packed together in solids. Our photograph shows a ball-bearing model set up to show what the grain boundaries look like in a polycrystalline material. The model also shows up another type of defect - the vacancy - which is caused by a missing atom.

Such simple considerations led Scholten and Konvalinka to confirm the form of the dependence of the reaction velocity on the pressure, as had been observed in their experiments. Taking into account a more realistic situation, on the polycrystalline hydride surface with which a hydrogen molecule is dealing when colliding and subsequently being dissociatively adsorbed, we should assume rather a different probability of an encounter with a hydride center of a /3-phase lattice, an empty octahedral hole, or a free palladium atom—for every kind of crystallite orientation on the surface, even when it is represented, for the sake of simplicity, by only the three low index planes. 

Other data support the above picture. Hexanol adsorbs very weakly on Ag(l 10), more weakly than expected, and in any case less than on the (100) face.440 Such a poor adsorption on (110) faces has been explained in terms of steric hindrance caused by the superficial rails of atoms. Consistently, adsorption on the (110) face of Cu is vanishing small.587 Predictions based on a linear regression analysis of the data for pentanol (nine metals) give a value of-12 kJ mol 1 for Cu(l 10) and about -16 kJ mol 1 for Au(110). No data are available for polycrystalline Au, but Au(l 11) is placed in the correct position in the adsorption of hexanol.910 Thus, these data confirm the hydrophilicity sequence Hg < Au < Ag and the crystal face sequence for fee metals (111) < (100) < (110). 

Figure 5.54. Effect of sodium coverage on the change AUWR of polycrystalline Pt catalyst potential UWr and on the catalytic rates of CO oxidation (solid lines37) and C2H4 oxidation (dashed lines36). Comparison with the theoretical Na coverage required to form the Pt(l 11)-(12xl2)-Na adlayer 0 is based on the number of surface Pt atoms 09a is based on the number of surface O atoms corresponding to the Pt(l 1 l)-(2x2)-0 adlattice. Reprinted from ref. 78 with permission from Elsevier Science,...

Darkowski and Cocivera [94] investigated trialkyl- or triarylphosphine tellurides, as low-valent tellurium sources, soluble in organic solvents. They reported the cathodic electrodeposition of thin film CdTe on titanium from a propylene carbonate solution of tri-n-butylphosphine telluride and Cd(II) salt, at about 100 °C. Amorphous, smooth gray films were obtained with thicknesses up to 5.4 p,m. The Te/Cd atomic ratio was seen to depend on applied potential and solution composition with values ranging between 0.63 and 1.1. Polycrystalline, cubic CdTe was obtained upon annealing at 400 C. The as-deposited films could be either p- or n-type, and heat treatment converts p to n (type conversion cf. Sect. 3.3.2). 

The Incident Ion beam Intensity can be measured, and there are several tabulations of cross-section calculations. ( ) Also, the analyzer parameters, T, D, and d6 can be determined. The three aspects of this equation, which are not well understood nor easily determined. Include the number of atoms of a particular kind, the Ion survival probability, and the shadowing or geometric term. The first quantity Is quite often that which you would like to determine. The second two are often difficult to separate. Shadowing can be particularly Important when trying to observe second layer effect or when trying to determine the location of adsorbates.( ) However, shadowing for polycrystalline samples, though Important, Is very difficult to deal with quantitatively. 

Overall platelet dimensions of mineral aurichalcite did not appear to change during calcination, but became polycrystalline and porous. By dark field Imaging in the TEM, the ZnO particles were observed to be uniformly and highly dispersed. The porosity can be accounted for by the approximately threefold increase in density of Zn atoms upon decomposition of aurichalcite to ZnO. For this density change to occur with a constant overall platelet volume, pores must form. 

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