Adsorption of L-Alanine on Cu（111） Studied by Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy

The adsorption of L-alanine on Cu（111） surface is studied by means of scanning tunnelling microscopy under ultra-high vacuum conditions. The results show that the adsorbates are chemisorbed on the surface, and can form a two-dimensional gas phase, chain phase and solid phase, depending on deposition rate and amount. The adsorbed molecules can be imaged as individual protrusions and parallel chains in gas and chain phases respectively. It is also found that alanine can form （2 × 2） superstructure on Cu（111） and copper step facet to （110） directions in solid phase. On the basis of our scanning tunnelling microscopic images, a model is proposed for the Cu（111）（2 ×2）-alanine superstructure. In the model, we point out the close link between （110）-direction hydrogen bond chains with the same direction copper step faceting.     

Formation of graphene on Ru（0001） surface

We report on the formation of a graphene monolayer on a Ru(0001) surface by annealing the Ru(0001) crystal. The samples are characterized by scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). STM images show that the Moir\'{e} pattern is caused by the graphene layer mismatched with the underlying Ru(0001) surface and has an $N\times N$ superlattice. It is further found that the graphene monolayer on a Ru(0001) surface is very stable at high temperatures. Our results provide a simple and convenient method to produce a graphene monolayer on the Ru(0001) surface, which is used as a template for fabricating functional nanostructures needed in future nano devices and catalysis.     

Scanning tunneling microscopy study of molecular growth structures of Gd@C82 on Cu（111）

The coverage and temperature-dependent nucleation behaviors of the Gd@C82 metallofullerenes on Cu(111) have been studied by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (LT-STM) in detail. Upon molecular deposition at low temperature, Gd@C82 molecules preferentially decorate the steps and nucleate into single layer islands with increasing coverage. Further annealing treatment leads some of the Gd@C82 molecules to assemble into bright and dim patches, which are correlated to the adsorption induced substrate reconstruction. Upon sufficient thermal activation, Gd@C82 molecules sink into the Cu(111) surface one-copper-layer-deep, forming hexagonal close-packed molecular islands with intra-molecular details observed as striped patterns. By considering the commensurability between the Gd@C82 nearest-neighbor distance and the lattice of the underlying Cu(111), we clearly identified two kinds of in-plane molecular arrangements as (19(1/2)×19(1/2))R23.4°and (19(1/2)×19(1/2))R36.6°with respect to Cu(111). Within the assembled Gd@C82 molecular, island molecules with dim-bright contrast are spatially distributed, which may be modulated by the preexisted species on Cu(111).     

Self-assembly and growth of manganese phthalocyanine on an Au（111） surface

Self-assembly and growth of manganese phthalocyanine (MnPc) molecules on an Au(111) surface is investigated by means of low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. At the initial stage, MnPc molecules preferentially occupy the step edges and elbow sites on the Au(111) surface, then they are separately adsorbed on the face-centered cubic and hexagonal closely packed regions due to a long-range repulsive molecule—molecule interaction. After the formation of a closely packed monolayer, molecular islands with second and third layers are observed.     

STM study of In nanostructures formation on Ge（001） surface at different coverages and temperatures

Different In/Ge（001） nanostructures have been obtained by annealing the samples at 320℃ with different coverages of In. Annealing a sample with a critical coverage of 2.1 monolayer of In, different In/Ge（001） nanostructures can be obtained at different temperatures. It is found that thermal annealing treatments first make In atoms form elongated Ge{103}-faceted In-clusters, which will grow wider and longer with increasing temperature, and finally cover the surface completely.     

Self-Assembly of TBrPP-Co Molecules on an Ag/Si（111） Surface Studied by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

Self-assembly of TBrPP-Co molecules on a Si（111）-√3t×√3 Ag substrate is studied by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. With the same adsorbed amount （0.07 ML）, the molecules deposited by low-temperature evaporation show three kinds of ordered structures whereas those deposited by high-temperature evaporation have size-dependent ordered structures. The distinct differences in the self-assembly structures and in the electron density of states inside the molecule near the Fermi energy demonstrate that the Br atoms of the molecule desorb at the higher evaporation temperature.     

Growth of Mn5Ge3 ultrathin film on Ge（111）

The growth of Mn5Ge3 ultrathin films with different thicknesses, prepared by solid phase epitaxy, is studied. The results of scanning tunnelling microscopy and low energy electron diffraction studies show that the film can be formed and it is terminated with a （√3 × √3） R30° surface reconstruction when the thickness of Mn exceeds 3 monolayers. The magnetic properties show that the Curie temperature is about 300 K and the T^2-dependent behaviour is observed to remain up to 220 K.     

Growth and photoluminescence properties of inclined ZnO and ZnCoO thin films on SrTiO_3（110） substrates

ZnO thin film growth prefers different orientations on the etched and unetched SrTiO 3（STO）（110） substrates.Inclined ZnO and cobalt-doped ZnO（ZnCoO） thin films are grown on unetched STO（110） substrates using oxygen plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy,with the c-axis 42 inclined from the normal STO（110） surface.The growth geometries are ZnCoO[100]//STO[110] and ZnCoO[111]//STO[001].The low temperature photoluminescence spectra of the inclined ZnO and ZnCoO films are dominated by D 0 X emissions associated with A 0 X emissions,and the characteristic emissions for the 2 E（2G）→ 4A2（4F） transition of Co 2＋ dopants and the relevant phonon-participated emissions are observed in the ZnCoO film,indicating the incorporation of Co 2＋ ions at the lattice positions of the Zn 2＋ ions.The c-axis inclined ZnCoO film shows ferromagnetic properties at room temperature.     

Point contact tunnelling studies on ceramic YBCO with scanning tunnelling microscope tips

A detailed study of point contact tunnelling into ceramic YBCO with electrochemically etched tips of Pt, Nb and W is reported. The superconducting gap parameter (Δ) has been extracted fromI —V and dI/dV —V curves using various procedures. Our results indicate a gap value of about 20 meV. We observe that the zero bias conductance is strongly dependent on the junction resistance. The normal state conductance varies linearly with bias voltage and the conductance curves are asymmetric with respect to polarity of the bias voltage. With contacts of very high junction resistance, we observe G(0)/G(100 mV) has a value as low as 1/6. This may be the lowest value reported so far.     

Sr/Si(100)表面TiSi2纳米岛的扫描隧道显微镜研究

为了解半导体衬底与氧化物之间存在的相互作用,以及量子尺寸效应对不同再构体的影响,制备了1—2个原子层厚的TiSi₂/Si(100)纳米岛,并使用扫描隧道显微镜(STM)表征手段详细地研究了TiSi₂ /Si(100)纳米岛的电子和几何特性. 结果发现:这些纳米岛表面显示出明显的金属性;其空态STM图像具有典型的偏压依赖性:在高偏压下STM 图像由三聚物形成的单胞构成,并在低偏压下STM 图像显示为密堆积的图案,这些不同的图案反映出不同能量位的态密度有明显差异. 关键词： 2纳米岛')" href="#">TiSi₂纳米岛 Sr/Si(100)表面 扫描隧道显微镜     

Scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy of the reduced TiO2(1 0 0) surface

Scanning tunnelling microscopy and current imaging tunnelling spectroscopy were used to study the topographic and electronic structure of a reduced TiO₂(1 0 0) surface. The STM results showed that the TiO₂(1 0 0) surface is capable to form (1 × 7) reconstruction which can transform to (1 × 3) reconstruction due to reoxidation of the surface. The CITS results showed that the (1 × 7) reconstruction is much more metallic in compared to the (1 × 3) reconstruction showing pronounced surface states at energy 1.3 eV and 0.8 eV below the Fermi level and at energy 1.0-1.2 eV above the Fermi level.     

Ge在Ru(0001)表面上生长及其性质研究

报道Ge在Ru(0001)表面上生长以及相互作用行为的扫描隧道显微镜（STM）和x射线光电子能谱（XPS）研究. STM的实验结果表明Ge在Ru(0001)表面的生长呈典型的Stranski_Krastanov生长模式，Ge的覆盖度小于单原子层时呈层状生长，而从第二层开始呈岛状生长. XPS测量显示衬底Ru(0001)与Ge的相互作用很弱. Ru(0001)表面的Ru 3d5/2和Ru 3d3/2芯态结合能分别处于2798和2840 eV. 随着Ge的生长，到Ge层的厚度为20个单原子层，衬底Ru 3d芯态结合能减小了约02 eV，而Ge 3d芯态结合能从Ge低覆盖度时的289 eV增加到了290 eV，其相对位移约为01 eV. 关键词： Ge Ru表面 生长 相互作用     

Thermally-assisted tunnelling of magnetization in （Mn0.96Cr0.04）12-ac

The thermally assisted resonant tunnelling in a single crystal (Mn_{0.96}Cr_{0.04})12-ac is studied in this paper. The obtained hysteresis loops at seven different temperatures between 1.8 and 3K show obvious dependence on temperature. The magnetization steps occur at specific field values of nH_R with H_R≈0.46T, which are approximately independent of the temperature. As the temperature decreases, the area enclosed in the hysteresis loops and the actual number n of the resonances increase, which provides clear evidence of thermally assisted resonant tunnelling in (Mn_{0.96}Cr_{0.04})12-ac.     

Effect of crystalline structure of TiO2 substrates on initial growth of atomic layer deposited Ru thin films

Ru thin films were grown on polymorphic TiO₂ thin film substrates at 230 and 250 °C by atomic layer deposition using 2,4-(dimethylpentadienyl)(ethylcyclopentadienyl)Ru and an O₂ gas. While the Ru films grown on amorphous and rutile TiO₂ substrates showed a relatively long incubation cycle number of approximately 350 and 100 at 230 and 250 °C, respectively, the Ru films grown on anatase TiO₂ substrates exhibited a significantly shorter incubation delay which was attributed to the catalytic activity of anatase TiO₂. This difference in the incubation cycle affected the surface morphology of the Ru films on different TiO₂ substrates.     

Chemical synthesis of nano-porous ruthenium oxide (RuO2) thin films for supercapacitor application

Ruthenium oxide (RuO₂) thin films have been prepared using single step chemical method containing Ru(III) Cl₃ solution in an aqueous medium at low temperature. The structural, morphological and optical properties have been investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and optical absorption technique. The XRD study revealed the formation of amorphous RuO₂ thin film. The surface examination by SEM showed formation of nano-porous material on the substrate. The TEM study revealed the formation of nanostructured material. The optical absorption studies showed the presence of direct band transition with band gap equal to 2.2 eV. The RuO₂ has proved its applicability in supercapacitor showing 50 F/g specific capacitance in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ at 20 mV/s scan rate.     

Room and high-temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy (HT-STM/STS) investigations of surface nanomodifications created on the TiO2(1 1 0) surface

High-temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy, scanning tunnelling spectroscopy and current imaging tunnelling spectroscopy (HT-STM/STS/CITS) were used to study the topographic and electronic structures changes due to surface modifications of the TiO₂(1 1 0) surface caused by the STM tip. In situ high-temperature STM results showed that the created modifications were stable even at elevated temperatures. The STS/CITS results showed the presence of energy gap below the Fermi level on the untreated regions. The disappearance of energy gap below the Fermi level on the modifications created by the tip was observed. It is assumed that the presence of the tip can change the chemical stoichiometry of the surface from TiO_2−x towards Ti₂O₃.     

Preparation of the subnanometer thick epitaxial Al2O3(0001) layers on Fe(110) for magnetic tunnel junctions

Growth as well as crystallographic and electronic properties of thin AlO_x layers on Fe(110) were studied by means of low-energy electron diffraction and Auger-electron spectroscopy. Al layers of different thickness were deposited on Fe(110) and successfully oxidized to AlO_x. The step-by-step oxidation of thin Al layers at room temperature leads to the formation of amorphous AlO_x on top of the Fe(110) surface. A subsequent annealing at 250 °C of the oxidized 7-Å thick Al layer results in the formation of a well-ordered Al₂O₃(0001) layer on the Fe(110) surface.     

Bi(110)薄膜在NbSe_2衬底上的扫描隧道显微镜研究

二维拓扑绝缘体因其特殊的能带结构带来的新奇物理性质,成为近年来凝聚态物理的研究热点.尤其是在引入超导电性之后,二维拓扑绝缘体中可能存在马约拉纳费米子(Majorana fermion),因此在量子计算方面具有重大应用前景.在Bi(111)薄膜被证实为二维拓扑绝缘体之后, Bi(110)薄膜引起了广泛关注,然而其拓扑性质还存在争议.本文利用分子束外延技术在室温低生长速率环境下成功制备出了高质量的单晶Bi(110)薄膜.通过扫描隧道显微镜测量发现,薄膜以约8个原子层厚度为分界,从双层生长转变为单层生长模式.结合隧道谱测量发现,在NbSe_2衬底上生长的Bi(110)薄膜因为近邻效应而具有明显的超导性质,但并未显示出拓扑边缘态的存在.此外,对薄膜中特殊的量子阱态现象也进行了讨论.