Core-Level Photoemission From Stoichiometric GaN(0001)-1×1

Size-selective breaking of the core-shell structure of gallium nanoparticles

Core-shell gallium nanoparticles (Ga NPs) have recently been proposed as an ultraviolet plasmonic material for different applications but only at room temperature. Here, the thermal stability as a function of the size of the NPs is reported over a wide range of temperatures. We analyze the chemical and structural properties of the oxide shell by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. We demonstrate the inverse dependence of the shell breaking temperature with the size of the NPs. Spectroscopic ellipsometry is used for tracking the rupture and its mechanism is systematically investigated by scanning electron microscopy, grazing incidence x-ray diffraction and cathodoluminescence. Taking advantage of the thermal stability of the NPs, we perform complete oxidations that lead to homogenous gallium oxide NPs. Thus, this study set the physical limits of Ga NPs to last at high temperatures, and opens up the possibility to achieve totally oxidized NPs while keeping their sphericity.

Microscopic evidence for the dissociation of water molecules on cleaved GaN(11[combining macron]00)

The dissociation of water molecules absorbed on a cleaved non-polar GaN(11[combining macron]00) surface was studied primarily with synchrotron-based photoemission spectra and density-functional-theory calculations. The adsorbed water molecules are spontaneously dissociated into hydrogen atoms and hydroxyl groups at either 300 or 130 K, which implies a negligible activation energy (<11 meV) for the dissociation. The produced H and OH were bound to the surface nitrogen and gallium on GaN(11[combining macron]00) respectively. These results highlight the promising applications of the non-polar GaN(11[combining macron]00) surface in water dissociation and hydrogen generation.

Isotropic thin PTCDA films on GaN(0 0 0 1)

The growth of 3, 4, 9, 10-perylene tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) on the Ga-polar GaN(0 0 0 1) surface has been studied by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), spot profile analysis low-energy electron diffraction (SPA-LEED), near edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS), and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The stoichiometric ratios derived from XPS indicate that the molecules remain intact upon adsorption on the surface. Furthermore, no chemical shifts can be observed in the C 1s and O 1s core levels with progressing deposition of PTCDA, suggesting none or only weak interactions between the molecules and the substrate. NEXAFS data indicate the PTCDA molecules being oriented with their molecular plane parallel to the surface. High-resolution STM shows PTCDA islands of irregular shape on the sub-micron scale, and together with corresponding SPA-LEED data reveals a lateral ordering of the molecules that is compatible with the presence of (1 0 2) oriented PTCDA nano-crystals. SPA-LEED moreover clearly shows the presence of homogeneously distributed rotational domains of two-dimensionally isotropic PTCDA.