RESUMEN
The growth and concomitant evolution of the optical properties of Ag nano-clusters deposited on biaxially extruded poly(ethylene terephthalate) films is studied by reflectance difference spectroscopy. It is demonstrated by low energy ion scattering and simulated optical spectra that the clusters form a two-dimensional layer buried beneath the surface of the substrate. The experimental spectra are described by simulations in which different configurations of the host such as anisotropy, amorphization, and dilution are considered in an effective medium approach. The contribution of the anisotropic substrate is used to explain the resulting line shapes. We also discuss the role of the rate of change of the filling fraction with Ag coverage in the evolution of the spectra and the detection of the onset of coalescence by optical means.
RESUMEN
We present a compact in situ electromagnet with an active cooling system for use in ultrahigh vacuum environments. The active cooling enhances the thermal stability and increases the electric current that can be applied through the coil, promoting the generation of homogeneous magnetic fields, required for applications in real-time deposition experiments. The electromagnet has been integrated into a reflectance difference magneto-optic Kerr effect (RD-MOKE) spectroscopy system that allows the synchronous measurement of the optical anisotropy and the magneto-optic response in polar MOKE geometry. Proof of principle studies have been performed in real time during the deposition of ultra-thin Ni films on Cu(110)-(2 × 1)O surfaces, corroborating the extremely sharp spin reorientation transition above a critical coverage of 9 monolayers and demonstrating the potential of the applied setup for real-time and in situ investigations of magnetic thin films and interfaces.
RESUMEN
We demonstrate that reflectance difference spectroscopy (RDS) is sensitive to defects induced by ion bombardment, located either in the topmost layer or in the subsurface region. Most importantly, these two kinds of defects can be spectrally discriminated, since the corresponding signatures in the RD spectrum arise from perturbations of different types of electronic states: The defects in the topmost surface layer mainly lead to a quenching of the optical anisotropy related to surface states, whereas the subsurface defects strongly affect the optical anisotropy originating from transitions between surface-modified bulk electronic states. Consequently, RDS can be used to simultaneously monitor the defects in the topmost surface layer and in the subsurface region in-situ during ion bombardment and thermal annealing. [Formula: see text] Characteristic RD spectra and the corresponding STM images for a Cu(110) substrate before and after healing of the subsurface defects.
RESUMEN
We present a new type of reflectance difference (RD) spectrometer for fast spectroscopic measurements based on a rotating-compensator (RC) design. The instrument uses a 1024 element Si photodiode linear array for simultaneous multiwavelength detection. High quality RD spectra covering a spectral range from 1.5 to 4.5 eV can be acquired within a few seconds. A detailed description of the working principle, the instrumentation, and the algorithms used for data collection and reduction is presented, followed by a discussion of errors introduced by lamp instability and optical imperfections of the compensator. Finally, to demonstrate the performance of the new RCRD spectrometer, we illustrate its application for the in situ, real-time monitoring of the initial stages of organic thin film growth of para-sexiphenyl (p-6P) on the Cu(110)-(2 x 1)O surface.
RESUMEN
The wavelength dependence of the retardation induced by a photoelastic modulator (PEM) is a central issue in multichannel modulator-based spectroscopic ellipsometry and reflectance difference spectroscopy (RDS), where the optical signal is detected simultaneously at different wavelengths. Here we present a refined analysis of the modulator crystal's retardation and its effect on the signal quality. Two retardation correction schemes that take into account the actual wavelength dependence of the stress-optic coefficient are introduced. It is demonstrated experimentally that both methods provide a better correction than the procedure currently used in multichannel RDS. We define quality factors to evaluate the actual performance of the multichannel detection system as compared with a wavelength adaptive single-channel experiment. These quality factors thus provide a useful guideline for choosing the appropriate PEM retardation or reference wavelength in a multichannel experiment.
RESUMEN
We show that reflectance difference spectroscopy (RDS) is sensitive to the inhomogeneous surface and thin film strain which builds up during hetero- and homoepitaxial growth. The RDS signal is affected by the local, mean square atomic displacements in the substrate resulting from the stress relaxation of strained adlayer islands. For layer-by-layer growth an oscillatory variation of the RDS intensity is observed. These results demonstrate the potentiality of RDS to probe the growth kinetics on structurally anisotropic surfaces.
RESUMEN
Reflectance difference spectroscopy is used to probe the optical transitions between surface states on the Cu(110) surface. Upon deposition of smallest amounts of carbon monoxide (CO) the signal is strongly quenched, which translates into a huge cross section of the order of 1000 A(2) for a single adsorbed CO molecule. This strongly enhanced surface sensitivity is interpreted as the loss in anisotropy (depolarization) of the surface states due to scattering from the adsorbed CO molecules. This feature renders RDS an extremely sensitive tool to probe the adsorption kinetics on anisotropic metal surfaces.