The influence of chemical environment upon the mercury 5d electronic structure

We have investigated one and two monolayers of Hg adsorbed on Cu(100) by angle‐resolved photoemission. The electronic structure of one monolayer of Hg on Cu(100) is very similar to that of the free atom. Two monolayers of Hg on Cu(100) has an electronic structure that closely resembles that of bulk Hg. These results are compared to those obtained for Hg overlayers on Ag(100). We have also observed that the shallow 5d core levels of the first monolayer of Hg shift by 0.38 ± 0.05 eV to greater binding energy following the adsorption of the second monolayer of Hg.