Electron bombardment of water adsorbed on Zr(0001) surfaces

A study of the effects of electron bombardment on water-adsorbed on Zr(0001) is reported. Zirconium surfaces are dosed with isotopic water mixtures at 160 K followed by electron bombardment (485 eV). The system is then probed by low energy electron diffraction, temperature programmed desorption (TPD) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). No evidence is found that would indicate preferential mixing of hydrogen from the bulk with isotopic water dissociation products during TPD. However, electron bombardment results in the sharpening of a hydrogen/deuterium desorption peak near 320 K and the production of water near 730 K at low water exposures. In addition, although water does not oxidize Zr(0001) thermally, electron bombardment of adsorbed water induces a shift of about 2 eV in the Zr AES features indicating that the surface is partially oxidized by electron bombardment.