Adsorptions of CO and O
2 on evaporated Ag and Cu films were studied by ellipsometry and resistivity measurements. Changes in ellipsometric angles δΔ and δΨ due to adsorption of CO or O
2 were analyzed by an improved linear approximation of the stratified layer model of adsorption. The analysis deduced dielectric constants of the adsorbates. Dielectric constants ε
1 obtained for chemisorbed CO and dissociatively chemisorbed oxygen are complex depending upon the wave length of incident light, though ε
1 of molecular oxygen adsorbed weakly on Ag at 77K is real and close to that in liquid phase. δΔ and δΨ vary in non-linear fasions with the coverage of adsorbates. Many of coverage curves are described by the Lorentz-Lorenz equation for inhomogeneous distributions of the adsorbates. It is concluded for chemisorbed species that the real part of ε
1 is negative, when a valence electron in an adsorbate forms a resonant bond with conduction electrons in a adsorbent, while the real part becomes positive, when the valence electron forms a strong covalent bond with an adsorbent surface atom. This concept is consistent with the Bennett and Penn theory.
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