Formation of channels for oxygen migration towards subsurface sites by CO oxidation and growth of the surface oxide phase on Ag(001)

The mechanism of oxygen incorporation in Ag is still poorly known. As recently demonstrated [Phys. Rev. B 63 (2001) R 1404], oxygen adatoms removal by CO oxidation leaves the Ag(0 0 1) surface in a modified state in which oxygen segregation from the bulk and the formation of a surface oxide phase can be induced by further CO exposure. Here we show that the same channels, forming during CO oxidation and linking surface and subsurface sites, allow also for the migration of oxygen adatoms into the subsurface region. When dosing 02 on an Ag(l 0 0) surface, on which oxygen had been previously removed by CO oxidation, we observe indeed the formation of the same surface oxide phase produced by oxygen segregation. A characterisation of this phase by X-rays photoemission spectroscopy and high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy is given, from which we deduce that it extends several layers deep into the volume.