理论预测晶体表面吸附二维原子岛的形状

提出了凝结势概念用以建立一种预测晶体表面吸附二维原子岛几何结构的理论方法.基于半经验相互作用势（SEAM势和OJ势）的计算表明,同相外延生长的二维原子岛在Cu和Ag的（111）面呈现正六边形结构, 而在Pt（111）面呈现截角三角形状;Cu和Ag的（100）面二维岛则形成正方形.这些理论预测均与实验观测结果一致.由于凝结势的计算不受原子数量的限制,该模型可普遍应用于预测各种表面二维原子岛形状. 关键词： 表面吸附 二维原子岛 量子点     

The molecular dynamic study of anharmonic effects at Cu(111) and Ag(111) surfaces in the presence of Cu- and Ag-trimer island

The molecular dynamics (MD) technique based on semi-empirical potentials, is used to carry out the diffusion of Cu- and Ag-trimer on Cu- and Ag(111) surface at 300, 500 and 700 K temperatures. The constant energy MD simulation elaborates the anharmonic effects at the surface such as fissures, dislocations and vacancy creation, in the presence of island. The fissures and dislocations formed are in the range of 1.5–4 Å and 1–7 Å, respectively, from the island's position. The Cu and Ag islands both diffuse easily on Cu(111) surface, manipulate that the trend of diffusion is faster on Cu surface as compared to Ag surface. The process of breaking and opening of the island has also been observed. Moreover, a surface atom popped-up at 700 K by creating a vacancy near the Cu island on Ag surface. The rate of diffusion increases with the increase in temperature, both for homo- and hetero-cases.     

Formation of nanoislands in the course of copper deposition on a Cu(111)-(9 × 9)-Ag surface

The process of copper deposition on a structured Cu(111)-(9 × 9)-Ag surface, which represents a (9 × 9) loop dislocation network, is studied by scanning tunneling microscopy. It is found that, when the substrate temperature is 100 K and the copper coverage is 0.1–0.4 of a monolayer, islands of a size no greater than 50 Å are formed at the Ag/Cu(111) interface. The islands remain stable as the sample is heated to room temperature. The shape and boundaries of the nanoislands follow the initial surface superstructure and are determined by the nonuniformity of the interaction of the upper silver layer with the copper substrate. The mechanism of island formation and the origin of their stability are explained in terms of the atom exchange between the adsorbate and substrate.     

Ag growth on Si(111) with an Sb surfactant investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy

We have investigated a room-temperature growth mode of ultrathin Ag films on a Si(111) surface with an Sb surfactant using STM in a UHV system. On the Sb-passivated Si surface, small sized islands were formed up to 1.1 ML. Flat Ag islands were dominant at 2.1 ML, coalescing into larger islands at 3.2 ML. Although the initial growth mode of Ag films on the Sb-terminated Si(111) surface was Volmer-Weber (island growth), the films were much more uniform than Ag growth on clean (Si(111) at the higher coverages. From the analysis of STM images of Ag films grown with and without an Sb surfactant, the uniform growth of Ag films using an Sb surfactant appears to be caused by the kinetic effects of Ag on the preadsorbed Sb layer. Our STM results indicated that Sb suppresses the surface diffusion of Ag atoms and increases the Ag-island density. The increased island density is believed to cause coalescence of Ag islands at higher coverages of Ag, resulting in the growth of atomically flat and uniform Ag islands on the Sb surfactant layer.     

Interplay of structural and temperature effects on plasmonic excitations at noble-metal interfaces

The interplay of structural and electronic properties on plasmon modes was investigated for a thin Ag film grown at room temperature on Cu(111). Surface plasmons are confined within Ag grains, as indicated by the analysis of their dispersion relationship, which is dispersionless up to a critical wave-vector. Surface plasmon confinement is removed upon annealing at 400?K. The thermal treatment induces a flattening of the Ag adlayer with a merging of Ag islands, and, moreover, a strong enhancement of surface conductivity.     

Cu/ZnO(0001̄) and ZnOx/Cu(111): Model catalysts for methanol synthesis

In an attempt to understand the relative importance of the various constituents of copper-zinc oxide catalysts for methanol synthesis (2H₂ + CO → H₃COH), we have prepared and characterized a number of single-crystal surface structures of Cu-ZnO. The model catalysts have also been tested in terms of their activity for methanol synthesis. The growth of vapor-deposited Cu overlayers on a ZnO(0001&#x0304;) (O face) single crystal has been investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), He⁺ ion scattering spectroscopy (ISS) and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED). The results are consistent with a growth model in which, at room temperature, the first monolayer spreads uniformly across the surface in a p(1 × 1) structure. As more Cu is added, thick Cu(111) islands grow and these are separated by large regions of the p(1 × 1)-Cu monolayer. The Cu(111) islands are rotationally aligned with the ZnO substrate, and at high enough coverages grow together to cover the ZnO. Increasing temperature favors more agglomeration. A clean Cu(111) crystal and one containing a ZnO_x (x ⋍ 3) monolayer were also studied. None of these model catalysts gave rates of methanol production which were measurable in our present experimental limits (TOF < 2 × 10⁻³ molecules site⁻¹ s⁻¹) at 500–600 K and CO + H₂ pressures up to 1500 Torr. Under these “reaction” conditions, the Cu in direct contact with ZnO may be slightly oxidized; all the other Cu is completely metallic. The Cu does not change its character between deposition and reaction conditions, even if heavily oxidized to CuO in between. The addition of CO₂ at very high levels under reaction conditions does not change the character of a Cu(111) model catalyst surface, and no surface oxygen is ever observable after treatment under reaction conditions.     

Computer simulation of symmetrical tilt grain boundaries in noble metals with MAEAM

This paper reports that an atomic scale study of [\bar {1}10] symmetrical tilt grain boundary (STGB) has been made with modified analytical embedded atom method (MAEAM) for 44 planes in three noble metals Au, Ag and Cu. For each metal, the energies of two crystals ideally joined together are unrealistically high due to very short distance between atoms near the grain boundary (GB) plane. A relative slide between grains in the GB plane results in a significant decrease in GB energy and a minimum value is obtained at specific translation distance. The minimum energy of Cu is much higher than that of Ag and Au, while the minimum energy of Ag is slightly higher than that of Au. For all the three metals, the three lowest energies correspond to identical (111), \mbox(113) and \mbox(331) boundary successively for two translations considered; from minimization of GB energy, these boundaries should be preferable in [\bar {1}10] STGB for noble metals. This is consistent with the experimental results. In addition, the minimum energy increases with increasing reciprocal planar coincidence density \Sigma, but decreases with increasing relative interplanar distance d /a.     

Coulomb attraction during the carpet growth mode of NaCl

The submonolayer growth of NaCl bilayer high-rectangular shaped islands on Ag(111) is investigated at around room temperature by using low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. The growth at the step edges is preferred. Two kinds of islands are observed. They either grow with their non-polar edge at the step edge of Ag(111) or the islands overgrow in a carpet-like mode with the polar direction parallel to the edge. In the latter case, the Ag step is rearranged and considerable, while the NaCl layer is bent. This study clarifies the nature of the interaction of an alkali halide nanostructure with a metal step edge.     

Atomic processes in vacancy island motion on Ag(111)

We present results of molecular dynamics simulations of the motion of monatomic-deep vacancy islands on Ag(111), using interaction potentials from the embedded atom method. The individual processes appearing in a large set of runs, at three different temperatures, are identified. From the statistics thus collected, we find that the predominant mechanism underlying the diffusion of vacancy islands on Ag(111) is the diffusion of atoms along the periphery of the vacancy islands.     

Growth mode and interface structure of Ag on the HF-treated Si(111):H surface

A growth mode and interface structure analysis has been performed for Ag deposited at a high temperature of 300°C on the HF-treated Si(111):H surface by means of medium-energy ion scattering and elastic recoil detection analysis of hydrogen. The measurements show that Ag grows in the Volmer-Weber mode and that the Ag islands on the surface are epitaxial with respect to the substrate. The preferential azimuthal orientation is A-type only when Ag is deposited slowly. The interface does not reconstruct to the √3 × √3-Ag structure, which is normally observed for Ag deposition above 200°C on the Si(111)7 × 7 surface, but retain bulk-like structure. The presence of hydrogen at the interface is demonstrated after deposition of thick (1100 Å) Ag films. However, the amount of hydrogen at the interface is not a full monolayer. This partial desorption of hydrogen from the interface explains why the Schottky barrier heights of Ag/Si(111):H diodes are close to those of Ag/Si(111)7 × 7 and Ag/Si(111)2 × 1.     

Adsorption-desorption properties and surface structural chemistry of chlorine on Cu(111) and Ag(111)

The adsorption, desorption, and structural properties of chlorine adlayers on Cu(111) and Ag(111) have been studied by LEED, Auger, Δ?, and thermal desorption measurements. Ancillary experiments were also carried out on cuprous chloride for purposes of comparison with the Cu(111)-Cl data. Chlorine adsorption is rapid on both metals and follows precursor kinetics, the absolute initial sticking probabilities being ~1.0 (Cu) and ~0.5 (Ag). Δ? results suggest that significant depolarisation of the chemisorption bond occurs at high coverages, the maximum values being + 1.2 eV (Cu) and + 1.8 eV (Ag). On Cu(111), adsorption leads to the formation of a sequence of well-ordered phases; in order of increasing coverage, these are as follows: (√3 × √3)R30°, (12√3 × 12√3)R30°, (4√7 × 4√7)R19.2°, and (6√3 × 6√3)R30°. On Ag(111) (√3 × √3)R30°, and (10 × 10) structures are observed. All six structures are susceptible to a straightforward interpretation in terms of coincidence lattices resulting from the progressive uniform compression of a hexagonal layer of Cl atoms. This interpretation is consistent with all the experimental results, and gives values for the nearest-neighbour ClCl spacing on both Cu(111) and Ag(111) which are in good agreement with other work on other surfaces. Chlorine desorbs exclusively as atoms from both metals with first-order desorption kinetics, and apparent desorption energies of 236 (Cu) and 209 (Ag) kJ mol^?1. These values, which depend on an assumed pre-exponential factor of 10¹³ s^?1, are shown to be inconsistent with the thermochemical constraints on the system necessitated by the complete absence of Cl₂ desorption. Lower limits for the pre-exponential factors are then deduced, and the values are found to be consistent with the differences between the CuCl and AgCl systems.     

Anomalous scaling in heteroepitaxial island dynamics on Ag(100)

Diffusion and decay of alloyed Cu/Ag islands are investigated in the size range from 1 to 40 nm2 on Ag(100) at room temperature with fast-scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory. While islands at sizes above 7 nm2 show the diffusion and decay behavior expected for dynamics based on single atom hopping, islands smaller than 4 nm2 diffuse faster and decay slower than predicted by standard theory. This anomalous behavior at unexpected large island sizes is related to a size dependent dealloying of the Cu/Ag islands.     

Effect of oxygen on the stability of Ag islands on Si(111)-7 × 7

We have used scanning tunneling microscopy to probe the effect of oxygen exposure on an ensemble of Ag islands separated by a Ag wetting layer on Si(111)-7 × 7. Starting from a distribution dominated by islands that are 1 layer high (measured with respect to the wetting layer), coarsening in ultrahigh vacuum at room temperature leads to growth of 2-layer islands at the expense of 1-layer islands, which is expected. If the sample is exposed to oxygen, 3-layer islands are favored, which is unexpected. There is no evidence for oxygen adsorption on top of Ag islands, but there is clear evidence for adsorption in the wetting layer. Several possible explanations are considered.     

Calculation of the surface energy of fcc metals with modified embedded-atom method

The surface energies for 38 surfaces of fcc metals Cu, Ag, Au, Ni, Pd, Pt, A1, Pb, Rh and Ir have been calculated by using the modified embedded-atom method. The results show that, for Cu, Ag, Ni, A1, Pb and Ir, the average values of the surface energies are very close to the polycrystalline experimental data. For all fcc metals, as predicted, the close-packed (111) surface has the lowest surface energy. The surface energies for the other surfaces increase linearly with increasing angle between the surfaces (hkl) and (111). This can be used to estimate the relative values of the surface energy.     

Ag在Si(111)表面二维生长有序化动力学研究

利用自制的高分辨率衍射斑角分布测量仪对低能电子衍射斑进行测量,研究Ag在Si(111)表面的有序化规律.结果表明,Ag3^1/2畴在生长过程中,满足标度不变性,是一种自相似的生长过程,在生长初期,它的生长指数近似为1/2,并提出了Ag从Ag(111)岛向外扩散形成Ag3^1/2畴的生长机制.还提出利用光助退火以在较低温度下获得完善的表面结构.     

Surface-state localization at adatoms

Low-temperature scanning tunneling spectroscopy of magnetic and nonmagnetic metal atoms on Ag(111) and on Cu(111) surfaces reveals the existence of a common electronic resonance at an energy below the binding energies of the surface states. Using an extended Newns-Anderson model, we assign this resonance to an adsorbate-induced bound state, split off from the bottom of the surface-state band, and broadened by the interaction with bulk states. A line shape analysis of the bound state indicates that Ag and Cu adatoms on Ag(111) and Cu(111), respectively, decrease the surface-state lifetime, while a cobalt adatom causes no significant change.     

Link between adatom resonances and the Cu(111) Shockley surface state

Low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy at 7 K was used to assemble and characterize native adatom islands of successive size on the Cu(111) surface. Starting from the single adatom we observe the formation of a series of quantum states which merge into the well known two-dimensional Shockley surface state in the limit of large islands. Our experiments reveal a natural physical link between this fundamental surface property and the sp(z) hybrid resonance associated with the single Cu/Cu(111) adatom.     

Nuclear magnetic resonance study of epitaxial Co layers on single-crystal substrates

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a powerful tool to study the local structure of ultrathin magnetic films and multilayers. This is demonstrated with an NMR study of ultrathin molecular beam epitaxy-grown Co layers on single-crystal Cu(111), Cu(110) and Pd(111) substrates. Co on Cu(111) results in a mixture of fcc and hep phases and the Cu(111)/Co interface is near to perfect. Co on Cu(110) grows mainly fcc in long stripe-shaped islands with rough Co/Cu interfaces. Finally, Co on Pd(111) gives a (111)-oriented fcc structure. The top surface is flat, but the Pd(111)/Co surface is intermixed.     

Cu-Ag (111) polymorphism induced by segregation and advacancies

Chemical and structural phase transitions induced by Ag surface segregation in the dilute Cu(Ag) (111) system have been investigated by Monte Carlo simulations. The polymorphism observed when depositing Ag on Cu (111) is proven to exist also in equilibrium segregation. If the segregation isotherms are not very sensitive to the superstructures, we show that the superstructure observed in the high part of the isotherm depends strongly on the number of advacancies.     

Quantum size effects in adatom island decay

The decay of hexagonal Ag adatom islands on top of larger Ag adatom islands on a Ag(111) surface is followed by a fast-scanning tunneling microscope. Islands do not always show the expected increase in decay rate with decreasing island size. Rather, distinct quantum size effects are observed where the decay rate decreases significantly for islands with diameters of 6, 9.3, 12.6, and 15.6 nm. We show that electron confinement of the surface state electrons is responsible for this enhancement of the detachment barrier for adatoms from the island edge.