USE OF LEED INTENSITY OSCILLATIONS IN MONITORING THIN-FILM GROWTH

In this paper we show that a conventional low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) apparatus may be used to ascertain the growth characteristics of a metal-on-metal system. It may be used to observe oscillations in diffracted intensity during growth of Pt on Pd(100). The oscillations are due to successive filling of Pt layers. In spite of the rather small coherence length of the apparatus, the spot profiles consist of two well-separated components, which are due to short-range and long-range order. The technique might fruitfully be applied in many laboratories using existing equipment. This is particularly significant, given the number of surface science groups currently initiating studies of metal-on-metal systems to understand bimetallic catalysts.