Direct recoil spectroscopy of alkanethiol covered surfaces

We use time of flight direct recoil spectroscopy to study the adsorption of alkanethiols on three model surfaces: Ag(1 1 1), Au(1 1 1), and GaAs(1 1 0). The low damage imparted to the films allows following the adsorption kinetics in detail, from very low exposures up to formation of dense self-assembled films. Measurements versus sample temperature provide information about desorption processes and the final S content. A substrate roughening effect is detected after annealing the organic films grown on Ag.