Tellurization of Pd(111): absence of PdTe_2 but formation of a TePd_2 surface alloy

In a recent publication [2D Materials, 8, 045033 (2021), arXiv:2103.11403], it was reported that the growth of a monolayer PdTe_2 in ultra-high vacuum could be achieved by deposition of tellurium on a palladium (111) crystal surface and subsequent thermal annealing. By means of low-energy electron diffraction intensity (LEED-IV) structural analysis, we show that the obtained (√(3)×√(3))R30^∘ superstructure is in fact a TePd_2 surface alloy. Attempts to produce a PdTe_2 layer in ultra-high vacuum by increasing the Te content on the surface were not successful.