Combined ion and electron spectroscopy study of the surface reactions of beryllium with carbon

Surface reactions of evaporated carbon on a clean metallic beryllium single crystal (0 0 0 1) are investigated in situ by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. The carbon is deposited at room temperature. The resulting films are successively heated to temperatures between 473 and 873 K in steps of 100 K and analyzed after each step. The as-deposited films consist of Be2C at the beryllium/carbon interface, and of a mixture of graphitic and disordered carbon on top. At elevated temperatures carbidization takes place between 473 and 673 K and leads to a homogeneous layer of Be2C on top of the beryllium. The Be2C bulk photoelectron energies are found to be 282.7 eV for C 1s and 113.0 eV for Be 1s, respectivley. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.