UNRELAXATION OF THE SEMICONDUCTOR SURFACE AT LOW-COVERAGE AG INP(110) INTERFACES AS DETERMINED BY PHOTOEMISSION EXTENDED X-RAY-ABSORPTION FINE-STRUCTURE

The atomic geometries of Ag/InP(110) interfaces for metal coverages in the cluster regime have been determined by photoemission extended x-ray-absorption fine structure (PEXAFS). P 2p PEXAFS for InP(110)+0.5 Ag and InP(110)+1 Ag (at room temperature) were acquired. The data were analyzed by conventional Fourier-transform methods using the theoretical backscattering phase function of McKale et al. plus the absorber phase function of Teo and Lee. For both noble-metal coverages on the semiconductor surface, our measurements show that the relaxation (about 4% contraction) in the P-In bond length of the clean InP(110) surface is mostly removed. This is in contrast to our recent PEXAFS results, reported in the literature, for reactive-metal Al/InP(110) or Na/InP(110) interfaces, where low-coverage metal-induced reconstruction of the P-In bond length has been observed. The low-coverage noble-metal-induced unrelaxation of the P-In bond length might contribute to Fermi-level movements during Schottky-barrier formation. © 1990 The American Physical Society.