Electronic structure of metal overlayers on rhodium

We have evaluated work functions, surface core-level shifts, and surface band dispersions for clean, Ag-covered, and Pd-covered Rh(100) surfaces, and for clean and Ag-covered Rh(111). The calculations were performed self-consistently, using the surface-linearized augmented-plane-wave method. As expected from the Pauling electronegativities, Ag adsorption lowers the work function from the clean Rh value, by several tenths of an eV, while Pd has an almost negligible effect. The values calculated for the core-level shifts of various films are shown to correspond to expectations based on surface band narrowing and layerwise charge neutrality. Using the core-level shifts, we predict heat-of-adsorption differences (for Ag on Pd vs Ag on Rh, etc.) that are in quite good agreement with the empirical predictions of Miedema and Dorleijn. Finally, the chemical inactivity of the Ag-covered Rh surface is associated with the fact that, for that system, the outer-layer local density of states is essentially that of Ag, with a characteristically low value at the Fermi energy. On the other hand, the Pd-covered Rh surface should behave much like clean Rh with an extra electron per surface atom. The surface band dispersions for the Pd-covered and clean Rh surfaces are closely similar. This result contrasts sharply with the case of Pd-covered Nb, for which, because of the appreciable electronegativity difference, the Pd overlayer is effectively "noble."