Asymmetries in the Surface Properties of the (111) and (111) Faces of Zinc Telluride

Photoelectric emission studies have been made for the (111) and (1̄1̄1̄) surfaces of ZnTe which were cleaned in high vacuum by the ion bombardment and annealing process. Differences in the adsorption and etching properties reflected the asymmetry in atomic species on the two faces. The (111) or Zn face was insensitive to oxygen adsorption at room temperature while the (1̄1̄1̄) face adsorbed oxygen with a sticking coefficient of about 10−3. The photoelectric properties of both surfaces were varied by the adsorption of water vapor.