Growth mode determinations for the epitaxial Cu/Pd(111)/mica and Pd/Cu(111)/mica thin film systems

The growth of Cu on epitaxially grown Pd(111)/mica and the growth of Pd on epitaxially grown Cu(111)/mica surfaces were studied with Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and low‐energy electron diffraction (LEED) under UHV conditions. The results show that epitaxial Cu grows on Pd(111) by a layer mode of growth. However, Pd grows on Cu(111) in three‐dimensional clusters on top of an initial approximately three monolayers, i.e., by a Stranski–Krastanov mode. LEED studies showed that in both cases a (1×1) pattern was observed with increasing overlayer thicknesses.