Tellurization of Pd(111) revisited: Formation of a TePd2 surface alloy but no PdTe2 monolayer

In a recent publication [2D Materials, 8, 045033 (2021), arXiv:2103.11403],\nit was reported that the growth of a monolayer PdTe$_2$ in ultra-high vacuum\ncould be achieved by deposition of tellurium on a palladium (111) crystal\nsurface and subsequent thermal annealing. By means of low-energy electron\ndiffraction intensity (LEED-IV) structural analysis, we show that the obtained\n$\\left(\\sqrt{3}\\times \\sqrt{3} \\right)\\textrm{R30}^\\circ$ superstructure is in\nfact a TePd$_2$ surface alloy. Attempts to produce a PdTe$_2$ layer in\nultra-high vacuum by increasing the Te content on the surface were not\nsuccessful.\n