Evidence for site-sensitive screening of core holes at the Si and Ge (001) surface

Skin Bond Electron Relaxation Dynamics of Germanium Manipulated by Interactions with H2 , O2 , H2 O, H2 O2 , HF, and Au

Although germanium performs amazingly well at sites surrounding hetero-coordinated impurities and under-coordinated defects or skins with unusual properties, having important impact on electronic and optical devices, understanding the behavior of the local bonds and electrons at such sites remains a great challenge. Here we show that a combination of density functional theory calculations, zone-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and bond order length strength correlation mechanism has enabled us to clarify the physical origin of the Ge 3d core-level shift for the under-coordinated (111) and (100) skin with and without hetero-coordinated H2 , O2 , H2 O, H2 O2 , HF impurities. The Ge 3d level shifts from 27.579 (for an isolated atom) by 1.381 to 28.960 eV upon bulk formation. Atomic under-coordination shifts the binding energy further to 29.823 eV for the (001) and to 29.713 eV for the (111) monolayer skin. Addition of O2 , HF, H2 O, H2 O2 and Au impurities results in quantum entrapment by different amounts, but H adsorption leads to polarization.

Core-level spectra and molecular deformation in adsorption: V-shaped pentacene on Al(001)

By first-principle simulations we study the effects of molecular deformation on the electronic and spectroscopic properties as it occurs for pentacene adsorbed on the most stable site of Al(001). The rationale for the particular V-shaped deformed structure is discussed and understood. The molecule-surface bond is made evident by mapping the charge redistribution. Upon X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) from the molecule, the bond with the surface is destabilized by the electron density rearrangement to screen the core hole. This destabilization depends on the ionized carbon atom, inducing a narrowing of the XPS spectrum with respect to the molecules adsorbed hypothetically undistorted, in full agreement to experiments. When looking instead at the near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectra, individual contributions from the non-equivalent C atoms provide evidence of the molecular orbital filling, hybridization, and interchange induced by distortion. The alteration of the C-C bond lengths due to the V-shaped bending decreases by a factor of two the azimuthal dichroism of NEXAFS spectra, i.e., the energy splitting of the sigma resonances measured along the two in-plane molecular axes.

TiO2(110) Charge Donation to an Extended π-Conjugated Molecule

The surface reduction of rutile TiO2(110) generates a state in the band gap whose excess electrons are spread among multiple sites, making the surface conductive and reactive. The charge extraction, hence the surface catalytic properties, depends critically on the spatial extent of the charge redistribution, which has been hitherto probed by small molecules that recombine at oxygen vacancy (Ovac) sites. We demonstrate by valence band resonant photoemission (RESPES) a very general charge extraction mechanism from a reduced TiO2(110) surface to an extended electron-acceptor organic molecule. Perylene-tetra-carboxylic-diimide (PTCDI) is not trapped at Ovac sites and forms a closely packed, planar layer on TiO2(110). In this configuration, the perylene core spills out the substrate excess electrons, filling the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO). The charge transfer from the reduced surface to an extended π-conjugated system demonstrates the universality of the injection/extraction mechanism, opening new perspectives for the coupling of reducible oxides to organic semiconductors and supported catalysts.

The oxidation of copper catalysts during ethylene epoxidation

This article investigates the corrosion of copper catalysts under epoxidation conditions using in situ XPS and SEM.

Thermodynamic and spectroscopic properties of oxygen on silver under an oxygen atmosphere

Comparing experimental and theoretical XPS and XANES suggest that unreconstructed atomic oxygen is not present on the silver surface at oxygen chemical potentials relevant for epoxidation.

Effect of Na adsorption on the structural and electronic properties of Si(111)√3 × √3-Au surface

Adsorption of ∼0.1 ML of Na onto the Si(111)√3 × √3-Au surface held at 300 °C has been found to induce pronounced changes in its structural and electronic properties. Domain wall networks, characteristic of the pristine surface, are removed completely, leading to the formation of a highly ordered homogeneous surface. The original atomic arrangement of the Si(111)√3 × √3-Au is preserved and Na atoms occupy T4 adsorption sites at the centers of surface Si trimers. Upon Na adsorption, a pronounced metallic S1 surface-state band develops. It is characterized by a large spin splitting (momentum splitting at the Fermi level Δk∥ = 0.027 Å(-1) and consequent energy splitting ΔEF = 110 meV), large electron filling (on the order of 0.5 electrons per √3 × √3 unit cell) and small effective electron mass of (0.028 ± 0.006)me. The natural consequence of the latter properties is a high surface conductivity of the Si(111)√3 × √3-(Au, Na) surface.

Ferrimagnetic Slater insulator phase of the Sn/Ge(111) surface

We perform semilocal and hybrid density-functional theory (DFT) studies of the Sn/Ge(111) surface to identify the origin of the observed insulating sqrt[3]×sqrt[3] phase below ∼30  K. In contrast with the semilocal DFT calculation predicting a metallic 3×3 ground state, the hybrid DFT calculation including van der Waals interactions shows that the insulating ferrimagnetic structure with a sqrt[3]×sqrt[3] structural symmetry is energetically favored over the metallic 3×3 structure. It is revealed that the correction of the self-interaction error with a hybrid exchange-correlation functional gives rise to a band gap opening induced by a ferrimagnetic order. The results show that the observed insulating phase is attributed to the Slater mechanism via itinerant magnetic order rather than the hitherto accepted Mott-Hubbard mechanism via electron correlations.

The bonding in thiolate protected gold nanoparticles from Au4f photoemission core level shifts

Density functional theory calculations are used to evaluate Au4f core level shifts of methyl thiolate protected Au(25), Au(102) and Au(144) nanoparticles. The shifts are found to provide sensitive fingerprints of the chemical environment. In particular, Au atoms in protective gold-thiolate complexes have higher binding energies than Au atoms with solely metal neighbors. The core level shifts for the nanoparticles are compared to the corresponding results for methyl thiolates adsorbed on Au(111) and implications for the understanding of the gold-sulfur bond is discussed.

Room-temperature metastability of multilayer graphene oxide films

Graphene oxide potentially has multiple applications. The chemistry of graphene oxide and its response to external stimuli such as temperature and light are not well understood and only approximately controlled. This understanding is crucial to enable future applications of this material. Here, a combined experimental and density functional theory study shows that multilayer graphene oxide produced by oxidizing epitaxial graphene through the Hummers method is a metastable material whose structure and chemistry evolve at room temperature with a characteristic relaxation time of about one month. At the quasi-equilibrium, graphene oxide reaches a nearly stable reduced O/C ratio, and exhibits a structure deprived of epoxide groups and enriched in hydroxyl groups. Our calculations show that the structural and chemical changes are driven by the availability of hydrogen in the oxidized graphitic sheets, which favours the reduction of epoxide groups and the formation of water molecules.

Adsorption of methylamine on Ni 3 Al(111) and NiAl(110)--a high resolution photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory study

Methylamine adsorption on the ordered Ni(3)Al(111) and NiAl(110) surfaces has been investigated by high resolution photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations. Methylamine adsorbs molecularly at both surfaces at low temperature (90 K). The experiments show that methylamine interacts with the surface aluminium atoms on both surfaces, resulting in a positive binding energy shift relative to the Al 2p bulk contributions. A shift towards lower binding energy is also observed on NiAl(110) attributed to first and second layer surface Al atoms not bonded to methylamine. According to total energy calculations methylamine binds through its N atom to Al on-top sites on NiAl(110) while the Ni on-top site is found to be slightly preferred over the Al on-top site on Ni(3)Al(111). Calculated adsorbate induced shifts are, however, in good agreement with the experimental values only when methylamine is situated in the Al on-top site on both surfaces. In both cases, a lone pair bonding mechanism is found.

Investigation of halogenated pyrimidines by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and theoretical DFT methods

The inner shell ionization of pyrimidine and some halogenated pyrimidines has been investigated experimentally by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) and theoretically by density functional theory (DFT) methods. The selected targets-5-Br-pyrimidine, 2-Br-pyrimidine, 2-Cl-pyrimidine, and 5-Br-2-Cl-pyrimidine-allowed the study of the effect of the functionalization of the pyrimidine ring by different halogen atoms bound to the same molecular site, or by the same halogen atom bound to different molecular sites. The theoretical investigation of the inductive and resonance effects in the C(1s) ionization confirms the soundness of the resonance model for a qualitative description of the properties of an aromatic system. Moreover, the combination of the experimental results and the theoretical analysis provides a detailed description of the effects of the halogen atom on the screening of a C(1s) hole in the aromatic pyrimidine ring.

Defect-controlled transport properties of metallic atoms along carbon nanotube surfaces

The diffusion mechanism of indium atoms along multiwalled carbon nanotubes is studied by means of photoemission spectromicroscopy and density functional theory calculations. The unusually high activation temperature for diffusion (approximately 700 K), the complex C 1s and In 3d5/2 spectra, and the calculated adsorption energies and diffusion barriers suggest that the indium transport is controlled by the concentration of defects in the C network and proceeds via hopping of indium adatoms between C vacancies.

Probing enantioselectivity with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory

The enantioselectivity of gold is investigated by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and density functional theory (DFT). Cysteine molecules on a chiral Au(17 11 9);{S} surface show enantiospecific core level binding energies in the amino and in the thiol group. The sign and order of magnitude of the XPS core level shifts is reproduced by DFT. Identical preparations of D- and L-cysteine layers lead to D-cysteine molecules in the pure NH2 form, while a small portion of L-cysteine molecules maintains a hydrogen rich amino group (NH3). This implies enantiospecific adsorption reaction pathways and is consistent with DFT that indicates an activated hydrogen abstraction reaction from the amino group, which is downhill for D-cysteine.

Electron core-hole interaction and its induced ionic structural relaxation in molecular systems under x-ray irradiation

The experiments on perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic-3,4,9,10-dianhydride and 16FCuPc on Ag(111) surfaces by the normal incidence x-ray standing wave are poorly reproduced by first-principles ground state calculations but well reproduced by considering initial- and final-state effects, which include the response of the valence electrons to screen a core hole created by x-ray photoemission and further induced ionic structural relaxation. This study shows that the initial- and final-state effects due to screening are of great importance in characterizing molecules on metal surfaces in the normal incidence x-ray standing wave experiments.

Unusual Process of Water Formation on RuO2(110) by Hydrogen Exposure at Room Temperature

The reduction mechanism of the RuO(2)(110) surface by molecular hydrogen exposure is unraveled to an unprecedented level by a combination of temperature programmed reaction, scanning tunneling microscopy, high-resolution core level shift spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations. We demonstrate that even at room temperature hydrogen exposure to the RuO(2)(110) surface leads to the formation of water. In a two-step process, hydrogen saturates first the bridging oxygen atoms to form (O(br)-H) species and subsequently part of these O(br)-H groups move to the undercoordinated Ru atoms where they form adsorbed water. This latter process is driven by thermodynamics leaving vacancies in the bridging O rows.

Origin of fine structure in si photoelectron spectra at silicon surfaces and interfaces

Using a first-principles approach, we investigate the origin of the fine structure in Si 2p photoelectron spectra at the Si(100)-(2 x 1) surface and at the Si(100)-SiO2 interface. Calculated and measured shifts show very good agreement for both systems. By using maximally localized Wannier functions, we clearly identify the shifts resulting from the electronegativity of second-neighbor atoms. The other shifts are then found to be proportional to the average bond-length variation around the Si atom. Hence, in combination with accurate modeling, photoelectron spectroscopy can provide a direct measure of the strain field at the atomic scale.

The effect of adsorbed oxygen on the surface potential of n-GaAs(110)

Potential variations on semiconductor surfaces are often mapped using a combination of constant current topographic and local surface photo-voltage (SPV) imaging. SPV imaging provides a direct measurement of surface-potential variations at large lateral distances from a charged defect or adsorbate. However, directly above the defect, variations in the SPV signal need to be interpreted in terms of surface screening, traps, and band bending. We have examined these effects using isolated oxygen atoms on a GaAS(110) surface, which is free of surface states. We interpret variations in the SPV signal in terms of a simple electrostatic model which considers the oxygen-induced Coulomb potential and corresponding image potential, both of which affect the surface density of states.

Adsorption and diffusion of Mg, O, and O2 on the MgO(001) flat surface

A thorough investigation of the adsorption and diffusion of Mg, O, and O(2) on MgO(001) terraces is performed by first-principles calculations. The single Mg adatom weakly binds to surface oxygens, diffuses, and evaporates easily at room temperatures. Atomic O strongly binds to surface oxygens, forming peroxide groups. The diffusion of the O adatom is strongly influenced by the spin polarization, since energy barriers are significantly different for the singlet and triplet states. The crossing of the two Born-Oppenheimer surfaces corresponding to the distinct spin states is also analyzed. Although the O(2) molecule does not stick to the perfect surface, it chemisorbs on surface nonstoichiometric point defects such as O vacancies or Mg adatoms, forming in the latter case new chemical species on the surface. We show that the oxidation rate limiting factor in an O(2) atmosphere is the concentration of point defects (O vacancies and Mg adatoms) in the growing surface. The simulated O core-level shifts for the various adsorption configurations enable a meaningful comparison with the measured values, suggesting the presence of peroxide ions on growing surfaces. Finally, the computed energy barriers are used to estimate the Mg and O surface lifetimes and diffusion lengths, and some implications for the homoepitaxial growth of MgO are discussed.

Chemistry between magnesium and multiple molecules in tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum films

Metal organic contacts are at the basis of devices such as organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Here, we report a theoretical investigation of the chemical interaction between a Mg atom and an organic film made of tris(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminum (Alq3) molecules. The latter is modeled either by an isolated molecule or by a bulk crystal. Using first-principles molecular dynamics for structural optimization, we find that an isolated Alq3 molecule and a Mg atom form an ion-pair. However, when the metal atom interacts with molecules in a bulk crystalline environment, we find that an organometallic complex is energetically preferred over the ion-pair. The complex formation is an effect of the environment which makes possible the interaction of the metal atom with several adjacent molecules. Here, our calculated O(1s) and N(1s) core level shifts agree well with recent experimental data on Alq3 films exposed to Mg. Our results resolve the apparent contradiction between experiment and predictions made in previous calculations in which a single Alq3 molecule was used to model a thin film.

Disproportionation phenomena on free and strained Sn/Ge(111) and Sn/Si(111) surfaces

Distortions of the sqrt[3]x sqrt[3] Sn/Ge(111) and Sn/Si(111) surfaces are shown to reflect a disproportionation of an integer pseudocharge, Q, related to the surface band occupancy. A novel understanding of the (3 x 3)-1U ("1 up, 2 down") and 2U ("2 up, 1 down") distortions of Sn/Ge(111) is obtained by a theoretical study of the phase diagram under strain. Positive strain keeps the unstrained value Q=3 but removes distortions. Negative strain attracts pseudocharge from the valence band causing first a (3 x 3)-2U distortion (Q=4) on both Sn/Ge and Sn/Si, and eventually a (sqrt[3] x sqrt[3])-3U ("all up") state with Q=6. The possibility of a fluctuating phase in unstrained Sn/Si(111) is discussed.

Role of electronic correlation in the Si(100) reconstruction: a quantum Monte Carlo study

Recent low-temperature scanning tunneling experiments have questioned the generally accepted picture of buckled silicon dimers as the ground state reconstruction of the Si(100) surface, undermining the ability of density functional theory to accurately describe electronic correlations at surfaces. We present quantum Monte Carlo calculations on large cluster models of the surface, and conclude that buckling remains energetically favorable even when the present-day best treatment of electronic correlation is employed. The implications for experimental interpretation are discussed.

First principles molecular dynamics of dense plasmas

Ab initio molecular dynamics calculations are performed for the equation of state of aluminum, spanning condensed matter and dense plasma regimes. Electronic exchange and correlation are included with either a zero- or finite-temperature local density approximation potential. Standard methods are extended to above the Fermi temperature by using final state pseudopotentials to describe thermally excited ion cores. The predicted Hugoniot equation of state agrees well with earlier plasma theories and with experiment for temperatures from 0 to 3 x 10(6) K.

Origin of O 1s core-level shifts on oxygen adsorbed Si(111)-(7x7)

Density functional calculations are used to examine the chemical and structural origin of O 1s core-level shifts measured on the initial oxidation stage of Si(111)-(7x7). Our analysis of metastable core-level peaks leads to a conclusive identification of the long-sought metastable oxidation species as a tetrahedral SiO4 unit, formed by two successive O2 adsorptions on a Si adatom. The origin of a higher-binding core-level shoulder is clarified by the presence of a threefold-coordinated subsurface O atom, introduced as a decay product of the metastable SiO4 unit. The present study provides a detailed atomic-scale picture of the initial oxidation process of Si(111)-(7x7).