Site-specific, synchrotron radiation induced surface photochemistry

This paper discusses recent research directed at understanding the nature of surface photochemistry driven by soft x-ray synchrotron radiation (SR). The research is motivated by the potential of x-rays for both high spatial resolution and site specificity. Although a number of systems indicate the potential for site specificity, the authors chose to study the system of SiF{sub 4}/Ge because the adsorbate`s photoabsorption spectrum is rich in structure near the Si 2p threshold (106 eV) while that of the substrate is structureless. This allows them to differentiate substrate-induced effects from those of the adsorbate. By performing time-dependent measurements of the changes induced in the photoemission spectra by SR, they have found that this system`s photochemistry is site-specific in the Si 2p region and have also determined the nature of the products produced by the reaction