Oxygen induced facet formation on Rh(2 1 0) surface

Oxygen induced nanometer-scale faceting of the atomically rough Rh(2 1 0) surface has been studied using Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), low energy electron diffraction (LEED), and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The Rh(2 1 0) surface completely covered with nanometer-scale facets when annealed at ≥550 K in the presence of oxygen. LEED studies reveal that the pyramidal faceted surface is characterized by three-sided nanoscale pyramids exposing (7 3 1), (7 3 −1) and (1 1 0) faces. A clean faceted surface was prepared through the use of low temperature surface cleaning method using the reaction with H₂ while preserving (“freezing”) the pyramidal facet structure. The resulting clean faceted surface remains stable for T ∼ 600 K and for higher temperatures; the faceted surface irreversibly relaxes to the planar surface. STM measurements confirms the formation of nanopyramids with average pyramid size ranging from 12 to 21 nm depending upon the annealing temperature. The nanopyramidal faceted Rh surface may be used as a potential template for the growth of metallic nanoclusters and for structure sensitive reactions.