BOND IONICITY OF ALKALINE-EARTH OXIDES STUDIED BY LOW-ENERGY D+ SCATTERING

Low-energy D+ scattering is employed to explore the nature of the bonding of polycrystalline alkaline-earth oxides MgO, CaO, SrO, and BaO, with particular emphasis on the investigation of the ionicity of the topmost-layer atoms. Increasing ionicity as one goes to the heavier cations is concluded from the probability of the resonance neutraliztion of the D+ ions, which is consistent with the conventional chemical arguments based on electronegativity scales but is in apparent contradiction to the results of recent ab initio cluster-model calculations. It is also concluded that the metallic Ba layer is formed rather patchily on the BaO surface after the heat treatment up to 1000 degrees C. This is probably because free Ba atoms, being supplied by the reaction of BaO with the Ta substrate, are precipitated at the BaO surface. Another example is concerned with the interactions of the Ba adatoms with Si(001) and Pt(111) surfaces; Ba is found to have marked covalency with the substrate atoms.