Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and Auger electron spectroscopy have been applied to study the intercalation process of silver underneath a monolayer of graphite (MG) on Ni(111). The room-temperature deposition of silver on top of MG/Ni(111) system leads to the islands-like growth of Ag on top of the MG. Annealing of the "as-deposited" system at temperature of 350-450 C results in the intercalation of about 1-2 ML of Ag underneath MG on Ni(111) independently of the thickness of pre-deposited Ag film (3-100 A). The intercalation of Ag is followed by a shift of the graphite-derived valence band states towards energies which are slightly larger than ones characteristic for pristine graphite. This observation is understood in terms of a weakening of chemical bonding between the MG and the substrate in the MG/Ag/Ni(111) system with a small MG/Ni(111) covalent contribution to this interaction.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0304575,
title = {Modification of the valence band electronic structure under Ag intercalation underneath graphite monolayer on Ni(111)},
author = {Yu. S. Dedkov and M. Poygin and D. Vyalikh and A. Starodubov and A. M. Shikin and V. K. Adamchuk},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0304575},
year = {2007}
}