Photoemission Studies of *Interface Effects on Thin Film Properties

Extending the exploration of interfactant effects to physical properties, the thermal stability temperatures of Pb films are measured with photoemission. The quantized electronic structure in Pb films causes the thermal stability to oscillate with an approximate bilayer period. A comparison among the systems reveals a phase reversal and an amplitude deviation in the stability temperatures. For Pb/In- 3 x 3 /Si(111), films made of odd numbers of atomic layers are observed to be more stable than the even ones, but this trend is reversed for the other cases studied. For Pb/Au-6x6/Si(111), the maximum stability temperatures are in excess of room temperature, unlike the other systems. These results show that the temperature-dependent thermal stability behaviors can be controlled by interfacial engineering.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Physics

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Ricci, Dominic A.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Chiang, Tai-Chang

• Physics, Condensed Matter

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3223702

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/80533