Hard x-ray photoemission spectroscopic investigation of palladium catalysts immobilized on a GaAs(001) surface

We present studies on the structure and chemical states of a catalyst developed by immobilizing palladium on S-terminated GaAs(001). Hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HX-PES) of core-level and valence band photoemission consistently indicates that the organopalladium molecules are reduced on the surface yielding Pd nanoparticles with a metallic nature. This finding is supported by high-resolution observations using scanning electron microscopy and backscattered electron image. HX-PES results also reveal that a portion of S atoms forming the S-termination is oxidized during the formation of Pd nanoparticles.