Surface structure and related properties of the (100) surfaces of vanadium and niobium

This dissertation addresses atomic-level structure and related properties of the (100) surfaces of Vanadium and Niobium. The primary motivation of the surface structure experiments is based on an observation by P.J. Feibelman [[superscript 3,4]] that ab-initio calculations of surface relaxation (interplanar separation of near-surface planes) exhibit significant and consistent deviation from corresponding experimental relaxation values obtained through LEED crystallography. The deviation is much larger than the accepted accuracy of both the theoretical and experimental techniques. Resolving this dilemma is the primary objective for this systematic investigation of multilayer relaxation at transition metal surfaces. This research also addresses important secondary issues. Closely related to the surface relaxation issue for Nb(100) are experiments that provide an experimentallydetermined structural basis for the "sub-surface valve" model that has been proposed to explain the novel hydrogen uptake kinetics in Niobium. Definitive experiments that address the longstanding search for ferromagnetic order at the surface of V(100) is another important issue.