High-resolution core-level photoemission study of Eu-induced (3x2)/(3x4) reconstruction on Ge(111)

We have investigated Eu-induced Ge(111)-(3x2)/(3x4) reconstruction by high-resolution core-level photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation and low-energy electron diffraction. Recent scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) observations [Phys. Rev. B 73, 125332 (2006)] revealed that the Ge arrangement of this reconstruction can be well described in terms of the honeycomb chain-channel (HCC) geometry proposed earlier for metal/Si(111)-(3x1) and -(3x2) surfaces; the Eu atoms, however, were found to reside at two different adsorption sites in the Eu/Ge(111)-(3x2)/(3x4) reconstruction, in contrast to the equivalent adsorption sites (e.g., T4) occupied in the case of Si. The present photoemission results provide further information about the atomic arrangement of Eu/Ge(111)-(3x2)/(3x4). In particular, we show that the Ge 3d core-level data cannot be interpreted by the HCC structure with the Eu atoms adsorbed only on T4 sites, giving a spectroscopic support for the suggestions based on the earlier STM data. We consider here a modified HCC-based configuration for the Eu/Ge(111)-(3x2)/(3x4) surface where the Eu atoms occupy two different sites in the empty channel between the neighboring Ge honeycomb chains. The atomic models are discussed in the context of the Ge 3d and Eu 4f data as well as the previous results available in the literature. Finally, we propose a structural model that allows us to account for the present photoemission and earlier STM findings