Bonding of an Isolated K atom to a Surface: Experiment and Theory

A. Sandell; O. Hjortstam; A. Nilsson; P. A. Brühwiler; O. Eriksson; P. Bennich; P. Rudolf; J. M. Wills; B. Johansson; N. Mårtensson

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.4994

Bonding of an Isolated K atom to a Surface: Experiment and Theory

A. Sandell, O. Hjortstam, A. Nilsson, P. A. Brühwiler, O. Eriksson, P. Bennich, P. Rudolf, J. M. Wills, B. Johansson, and N. Mårtensson

Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 4994 – Published 30 June 1997

Abstract

We present a new and general technique with which the local properties of the unoccupied states of an adsorbed alkali atom in the low coverage limit can be studied. The method, based on a combination of experimental core level spectroscopy data and calculations, is demonstrated for the K/graphite system. We show that core excitation and decay spectra of adsorbed Ar combined with the calculations form a most powerful tool in order to determine the unoccupied density of states for an isolated K adatom. We find that the $4 s$ level of an isolated K atom on graphite is placed 2.7 eV above $E_{F}$ , with a hybridization width of the order of only 0.1 eV.

Received 8 October 1996

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.4994

Authors & Affiliations

A. Sandell¹, O. Hjortstam¹, A. Nilsson¹, P. A. Brühwiler¹, O. Eriksson¹, P. Bennich¹, P. Rudolf^1,2, J. M. Wills³, B. Johansson¹, and N. Mårtensson¹

¹Department of Physics, Uppsala University, Box 530, S-751 21 Uppsala, Sweden
²L.I.S.E., Facultes Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix, Rue de Bruxelles 61, B-5000 Namur, Belgium
³Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544