The effect of photo-oxidation on the sticking and reactivity of Ag on amorphous

Photo-oxidation of amorphous films illuminated by band-gap radiation drastically alters the growth mode and reactivity of subsequently deposited Ag. In the former case (monolayer/simultaneous multilayer growth) the Ag reacts with both Ge and S sites. In the latter case (Stranski - Krastanov growth) Ge sites are selectively oxidized and film growth proceeds by Ag nucleation at the unoxidized S sites. The behaviour is very different from that reported earlier for Zn deposition on , where photo-oxidation results in very large changes in metal sticking probability. XPS, XAES and EXAFS data provide the basis for understanding both this phenomenon and the very different photodiffusion behaviour of Zn and Ag in .