Nuclear stimulated desorption of isolated cadmium atoms from structured surfaces

Measurements of nuclear stimulated desorption (NSD) of 107Cd from a (111) nickel single crystal surface covered with a fraction of a monolayer of palladium were performed. The total desorption probability and the polar angular distribution were determined. An anisotropic distribution with a minimum in the upward direction was found. This distribution is compared with molecular dynamics calculations and is shown to be consistent with desorption from step sites. It is also qualitatively consistent with independent results on similar systems obtained by the perturbed angular correlation method using 111 m Cd. The total desorption probability agrees with the predicted value. Future work required to turn NSD into a useful analytic tool is discussed.