Low-temperature adsorption of CO on Cu(1 1 1) studied by RAIRS

We report here a detailed RAIRS study of carbon monoxide adsorbed on the Cu(1 1 1) surface at substrate temperatures of 15–20 K. Surface diffusion in this temperature regime is thermally limited; this results in the formation of a different, more disordered surface structure than those grown at higher temperatures. Both monolayer and multilayer physisorption is observed, and these layers are found to affect the underlying chemisorbed layer.