Institute for Molecules and Materials, Faculty of Science, Radboud University Nijmegen, Toernooiveld 1, 6525 ED Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Abstract:
We present the first direct observation of an occupied noble metal surface state at the metal/liquid interface. The Au(1 1 1) Shockley-like surface state was measured by scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) at the Au(1 1 1)/n-tetradecane interface. These results show that the surface state of gold survives in a liquid environment, and can be probed by STS. More generally it indicates that STS can be used to study electronic properties of surfaces at the solid/liquid interface, and that spectra can be directly compared to measurements and calculations of a surface’s electronic structure in ultra-high vacuum.