Characterization of the chemisorption of methylsilane on a Au(1,1,1,) surface from the silicon K- and L-edge spectra:: A theoretical study using the four-component static exchange approximation

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectra (NEXAFS) of methylsilane, isolated and chemisorbed to a Au(1,1,1) surface, are determined in the fully relativistic four-component static exchange approximation-both the K- and the L-edge of silicon are addressed in this investigation. In the fully chemisorbed structure, three H(Si) atoms have been cleaved off when Si binds in the hollow site of Au forming three Si-Au bonds of normal length. As due to the tri-coordinated chemisorption, the onsets of the K- and L-edge NEXAFS absorption bands occur some 2.0 and 2.5 eV lower in energy, respectively. The spin-orbit splittings in the silicon 2p-shell are not significantly changed due to adsorption. A partly chemisorbed methylsilane with only one H(Si) bond cleaved was also studied, and it is shown that the polarization dependence in the surface spectra contains details that can be used experimentally to identify the surface coordination of silicon. The red-shifts in the XPS silicon Is (2p) spectra upon surface binding are 0.95 (0.65) and 1.15 (0.83) eV for the mono- and tricoordinated system, respectively.