Article révisé par les pairs
Résumé : The catalytic importance of rhodium in the industry implies an increased knowledge of its surface composition and of the alloying effect on the surface properties of this metal. For this reason, we selected the Cu-Rh system. Massive single crystals of dilute Cu-Rh alloys were prepared by the Bridgman method (fusion and unidirectional solidification). They were characterized by x-ray back reflexion and optical microscopy. All our samples (1. 5, 2, 8 and 15 at% Rh) showed cellular-dendritic structures. Their elimination was obtained by heating at 1000 degree C in hydrogen at atmospheric pressure (to limit the copper loss). The surface composition of the crystals is determined by auger electron spectroscopy but a quantitative analysis requires a measure of the rhodium relative sensitivity factor. This value was obtained by two methods: (a) the internal standard method by scraping the samples surface; (b) the use of elemental sensitivity factors.