Photoemission Investigations of Non-Metal/Metal Transition in Thin Discontinuous Antimony Films

The electric and photoelectric properties of very thin discontinuous antimony films deposited on an insulating (sapphire) substrate were investigated in order to explain the "surfactant" role of Sb atoms in the growth of other metal films on this substrate. The results show that the properties of pure Sb films on a sapphire are similar to those observed for other metals and cannot explain an essential change in the growth of Ag, Au, Ga and other metals when the substrate is pre-germinated with antimony.