Abstract
Electronic excitation of and CO condensed (i.e., physisorbed) on a metallic substrate has been investigated by high-resolution electron-energy-loss (HREEL) and low-energy electron-transmission (LEET) spectroscopies in the incident energy range 0–19 eV. The HREEL results yield a more complete picture of the spin-forbidden vibronic bands of the solids than previously available from photon spectroscopies. All levels are found to be shifted down by a few tens of meV and broadened with respect to the gas-phase values. As expected, Rydberg states are absent from such spectra. The LEET experiments provide a measurement of inelastic transitions near the electronic excitation threshold. By recording the second energy derivative of LEET spectra, transitions having a strong cross section near threshold are identified by the sharp structure they produce. These are the a Π state in CO and, in , the A and B states and a new previously unobserved vibronic band near 12 eV. The magnitudes of thresholds cross sections in the solid phase are discussed in terms of single-electron–molecule scattering mechanisms.
- Received 11 July 1986
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.35.607
©1987 American Physical Society