Electron beam damage of chemisorbed surface species: a tunneling spectroscopy study

Electron beam damage is a problem for low-energy electron diffraction, Auger electron spectroscopy, and electron microscopy. Tunneling spectroscopy has been used to study the damage caused by 30 keV incident electrons on chemisorbed monolayer films of hexanoic acid, 2,4-hexadienoic acid, and benzoic acid. The results on monolayer films are compared to existing work on bulk samples. Damage cross sections are similar to bulk values; molecules with more delocalized electrons are more resistant to damage. In contrast to bulk results, however, little if any conjugation or cross linking is found after irradiation. (Auth.)