Ultrahigh vacuum chamber for synchrotron x-ray diffraction from films adsorbed on single-crystal surfaces

An ultrahigh vacuum chamber has been developed for structural analysis of adsorbed films and single-crystal surfaces using synchrotron x-ray diffraction. It is particularly well suited for investigations of physisorbed and other weakly bound films. The chamber is small enough to transport and mount directly on a standard four-axis diffractometer and can also be used independently of the x-ray diffractometer. A low-current, pulse-counting, low-energy electron diffraction/Auger spectroscopy system with a position-sensitive detector enables in situ characterization of the film and substrate while the sample is located at the x-ray scattering position. A closed-cycle He refrigerator and electron bombardment heater provide controlled substrate temperatures from 30 to 1300 K. The chamber is also equipped with an ion sputter gun, a quadrupole mass spectrometer, and a gas handling system. Details of the design and operation of the instrument are described. To demonstrate the performance of the instrument, we present some preliminary results of a study of Xe physisorbed on the Ag(111) surface