STM investigations of local potential barrier dist ribution of the atomic surface of graphite

To modulate the tunneling gap with the lock-in amplifier in the scanning tunneling microscopy(STM), information of the tunneling current variation can be obtained. The local potential barrier distribution of graphite surface atoms is got by means of such technology. Compared with STM image under topography observation mode, the local potential barrier image has higher resolu tion and less influence on the tip and better anti-interference capability. Obs erved results of the graphite are given and discussed in this paper.     

利用扫描隧道谱(STS)对石墨单晶表面局域电子态的研究

利用ＳＴＳ测量并结合扫描隧道显微镜（ＳＴＭ）扫描图象，给出一组沿石墨单晶表面原子分辨的ＳＴＭ图象上某一线段各点处的扫描隧道谱．ｄ（lｎI）／ｄ（lｎＶ）～ｅＶ由测量谱给出的样品表面Ｅ_Ｆ附近局域态密度分布与由体能带结构计算得到的结果在一定程度上相符合，将各条曲线中Ｅ_Ｆ附近的态密度峰能量对相应的空间位置作图，给出石墨表面E_F附近能态密度在测量区域内实空间的变化。通过对表面不等价Ａ，Ｂ类原子处局域电子结构的分析并利用简单模型进行计算，给出了与实验 关键词：     

Calculation of scanning tunnelling microscopy images for Kr/graphite system

The scanning-tunnelling-microscopy (STM) images of Kr atoms adsorbed on a monolayer graphite sheet (Kr/graphite system) are calculated using the first-principle total-energy electronic structure calculations within the density functional theory in the local density approximation. The results obtained agree well with the observations. It is found that the optimal site of the adsorbed Kr atom is at the top of the centre of the carbon hexagon, and its equilibrium distance from monolayer graphite surface is about 0.335nm. It is shown that the hybridization of C 2p electronic states (π-electronic states) and Kr 4p and 5s electronic states is the main origin of the Fermi-level local density of state.     

Structural change of radiation defects in graphite crystals induced by STM probing

It was found that STM (scanning tunneling microscopy) images of defects in highly oriented pyrolytic graphite introduced by bombardment of 400 eV Ar⁺ ions in ultra-high vacuum exhibit substantial changes in the course of STM probing. Detailed examination of abrupt changes in the tunneling current measured at defect sites during voltage scans shows that the primary cause of the defect-image change was found to be neither the injected current nor the injected power but the absolute value of the voltage applied between the probe tip and the sample. We propose that an electric polarization induced force attracting the sample surface toward the probe tip widens the layer spacing of the graphite surface, leading to an acceleration of the lateral diffusion of interstitial atoms introduced by the ion irradiation, which results in a change in the defect structures and the accompanying electronic structures sensible in the STMimaging. Received: 14 June 2001 / Accepted: 7 September 2001 / Published online: 20 December 2001     

用扫描隧道显微镜观察石墨被Au离子轰击后的表面损伤

用扫描隧道显微镜研究石墨被Au离子轰击后的表面损伤。实验结果表明:用低剂量(1×10¹²ion/cm²)530keV的Au⁺和4.5MeV的Au⁺⁺均匀轰击石墨。在石墨表面所产生的最显著的损伤是单个入射Au离子造成的小丘,小丘的横向平均线度约为1.8nm。从高分辨的扫描隧道显微镜图象可以看出,这种损伤往往伴有多种形式的3^1/2×3^1/2R 30°的超结构(R为石墨的晶格常数)     

Formation of Gallium-induced nanostructures on single crystal HOPG surface

The room temperature growth of gallium atoms on the highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface has been performed. The gallium atoms were deposited by thermal evaporation method in an ultra high vacuum system at a base pressure 5 × 10⁻¹⁰ torr. The X-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS) studies had been performed to confirm the presence of gallium atoms on HOPG surface. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STM) technique was employed to study the surface morphology of the clean HOPG surface and gallium covered HOPG surfaces which recognize the formation of gallium induced nanostructures. The deconvoluted XPS core level spectra of C (1s) and Ga (3d) demonstrate the possible interaction between substrate and the adsorbate atoms. The STM analysis revealed that the gallium deposition on HOPG led to significant change in the surface morphology. It was observed that the Ga atoms adsorbed as layer structure on HOPG surface for low coverage while quasi one-dimensional chain like nanostructure (1 ± 0.2 nm) has been formed for higher Ga coverage. The nanostructured surfaces induced by Ga deposition are found to be stable and could be used as a template for the growth of metallic nanostructures.     

ATOMIC CHARGE SUPERPOSITION CALCULATIONS OF STM IMAGES OF 2D-ORDERED AMINO ACID ADSORBATES(Ⅱ)

In the preceding paper, we have successfully used the atomic charge superposition (ACS) method to calculate STM images of 2D-ordered structures of glycine molecules adsorbed on graphite (HOPG). In this work we focus on alanine/HOPG system. Firstly, we make a thorough searching for all of the possible 2D-ordered aggregation structures that can form linear chains or 2D nets of hydrogen bonds between the molecules and simultaneously satisfy the Van der Waal's radii of the condtituent atoms, just like in the case of 3D crystal of the molecules. Secondly, in order to interpret the experimental images, we use the ACS method to calculate STM images of the possible structures. It turns out that many of the experimental images can be interpreted satisfactorily with their calculated counterparts. This result further exhibits the great potential of using STM to study organic and biological molecules.     

Study of the origin of superstructure patterns in the scanning tunneling images of perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic-dianhydride on graphite by electronic structure calculations

Partial electron density plots were calculated for various arrangements of perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic-dianhydride (PTCDA) molecules on graphite to understand why scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images of PTCDA on graphite exhibit superstructure contrast variations. In agreement with experiment, the contrast of the partial electron density plot depends strongly on the orientation and position of PTCDA on graphite. This observation originates from the fact that the overlap between the orbitals of the adsorbate and substrate is strongly affected by their relative arrangement. The HOMO or LUMO density of an adsorbate molecule can be inadequate in interpreting STM images of adsorbate molecules.     

Insight into STM image contrast of n-tetradecane and n-hexadecane molecules on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite

Two-dimensional ordered patterns of n-tetradecane (n-C₁₄H₃₀) and n-hexadecane (n-C₁₆H₃₄) molecules at liquid/graphite interface have been directly imaged using scanning tunneling microscope (STM) under ambient conditions. STM images reveal that the two different kinds of molecules self-organize into ordered lamellar structures in which alkane chains of the molecules extend along one of three equivalent lattice axes of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) basal plane. For n-C₁₄H₃₀ molecules, the molecular axes are observed to tilt by 60° with respect to inter-lamellar trough lines and the carbon backbones of the alkane chains are perpendicular to the HOPG basal plane in an all-trans conformation. However, for n-C₁₆H₃₄ molecules, the molecular axes are perpendicular to lamellar borders (90°) and the planes of the all-trans carbon skeletons are parallel to the graphite basal plane. The results clearly indicate that outmost hydrogen atoms of the alkane chains dominate atom-scaled features of the STM images. That is, in the case of long-chain alkane molecules, topographic effects dominantly determine STM image contrast of the methylene regions of the alkane chains that are adsorbed on HOPG.     

Localized molecular constraint on electron delocalization in a metallic chain

An artificial quantum structure consisting of a single CO molecule adsorbed on a Au chain was assembled by manipulating single Au atoms on NiAl(110) at 12 K with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). The CO disrupts the delocalization of electron density waves in the chain, as it suppresses the coupling between neighboring chain atoms. The possibility to specify the CO position on the chain allows controlled modification of the electronic properties in a quantum system. Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy with the STM provides vibrational characterization of the adsorbed CO.     

STM investigation of the adsorption and temperature dependent reactions of ethylene on Pt(111)

The adsorption and reactions of ethylene adsorbed in UHV on Pt(111) have been studied as a function of temperature by STM. The STM images taken at 160K show an ordered structure of adsorbed ethylene. Annealing to 300 K produces ethylidyne (C-CH₃) irreversibly, as has been demonstrated by a wide variety of surface science techniques. The ethylidyne on Pt(111) is not visible to the STM at room temperature. Cooling the sample allows direct observation of the ethylidyne ordered structure by STM. Annealing above 430 K results in further dehydrogenation, eventually leaving only carbon on the surface. The decomposition products appear as small clusters which are localized and uniformly distributed over the surface. Further annealing to temperatures >800 K results in the growth of graphite islands on the Pt(111) surface. The annealed graphite islands exhibit several supersturctures with lattice parameters of up to 22 Å, which are thought to result from the higher order commensurability with the Pt(111) substrate at different relative rotations.     

长链烷烃和醇在石墨表面吸附的扫描隧道显微镜研究

用扫描隧道显微镜（STM）研究了室温下十八醇（1-C18H37OH）和十四烷（C14H30）在石墨表面的吸附行为.十八醇在石墨表面自组装形成条状结构.实验发现了十八醇分子在石墨表面的两种不同的密排方式，它们形成并列的不同宽度的条状结构.还发现，由于溶剂（正十四烷C14H30）的完全蒸发，留下的十八醇分子在石墨表面吸附的自组装结构与固液界面中十八醇分子在石墨表面的吸附形成的结构在分子方向、表面分子晶体的晶格常数及条状结构宽度等方面有很大的不同.此外，实验中也发现溶剂十四烷在某种情况下也能在石墨表面吸附形成可供STM观察的有较长时间稳定性的条状周期结构.实验观察到的十四烷在石墨表面形成的晶体结构与固液界面中观察到的有序结构的晶体结构常数和分子排列方向也是不同的.根据STM图像，提出了十八醇和十四烷在石墨表面吸附的结构模型. 关键词： 十四烷 十八醇 石墨 扫描隧道显微镜     

Two-dimensional roughening of adsorbate islands in thermodynamic equilibrium

Equilibrium fluctuations of islands of adsorbed O atoms on Ru(0001) were investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), density functional theory calculations (DFT) and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. Very ramified (2 x 2)-O islands were observed by high-speed STM that point to complex interactions between the O atoms. The DFT calculations show that, in addition to pairwise attractive interactions between third-nearest neighbors, a repulsive three-body interaction exists between these. MC simulations that include three-body interactions reproduce the observed ordering behavior.     

铜箔上生长的六角氮化硼薄膜的扫描隧道显微镜研究

利用扫描隧道显微镜研究了采用化学气相沉积法在铜箔表面生长出的高质量的六角氮化硼薄膜. 大范围的扫描隧道显微镜图像显示出该薄膜具有原子级平整的表面, 而扫描隧道谱则显示, 扫描隧道显微镜图像反映出的是该薄膜样品的隧穿势垒空间分布. 极低偏压的扫描隧道显微镜图像呈现了氮化硼薄膜表面的六角蜂窝周期性原子排列, 而高偏压的扫描隧道显微镜图像则呈现出无序和有序排列区域共存的电子调制图案. 该调制图案并非源于氮化硼薄膜和铜箔衬底的面内晶格失配, 而极有可能来源于两者界面处的氢、硼和/或氮原子在铜箔表面的吸附所导致的隧穿势垒的局域空间分布.     

石墨上纳米尺度金岛的形成

用扫描隧道显微镜研究了真空蒸镀在高定向热解石墨上金岛的形成和形状．随着蒸镀量的增加及时间的推移，金原子在表面通过扩散而逐渐合并成越来越大的原子团，以至岛，甚至岛群．虽然几个纳米大小的原子团仍十分可动，但在蒸镀量大于20单层时的岛或岛群已十分稳定．研究发现，同一蒸镀量下，各个金岛具有非常接近的宽度和高度，用薄膜成核的圆柱状模型计算岛的宽度与高度之比表明，金岛非常接近热力学平衡状态．这些形状各异的通过生长而自组装形成的纳米尺度金岛可用来进行介观物理的研究 关键词：     

Local spectroscopy and atomic imaging of tunneling current, forces, and dissipation on graphite

Theory predicts that the currents in scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and the attractive forces measured in atomic force microscopy (AFM) are directly related. Atomic images obtained in an attractive AFM mode should therefore be redundant because they should be similar to STM. Here, we show that while the distance dependence of current and force is similar for graphite, constant-height AFM and STM images differ substantially depending on the distance and bias voltage. We perform spectroscopy of the tunneling current, the frequency shift, and the damping signal at high-symmetry lattice sites of the graphite (0001) surface. The dissipation signal is about twice as sensitive to distance as the frequency shift, explained by the Prandtl-Tomlinson model of atomic friction.     

Palladium nano-clusters grown on prestructured HOPG substrates

The growth of Palladium nano-clusters prepared by atomic beam deposition on prestructured highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surfaces has been investigated by means of scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). Preformed nanosized pits created on the HOPG surfaces are used as localized pinning sites for Pd cluster nucleation and growth at room temperature. We succeeded in obtaining Pd clusters of nanometric size and with rather sharp size distributions. A systematic morphological study conducted by STM reveals a linear dependence between the height and the diameter of the Pd nanostructures. Finally, Pd nano-clusters stabilized on prestructured HOPG surfaces were found to be active catalysts in the Heck cross-coupling reaction.     

Melting of carbon heated by focused laser radiation in air at atmospheric pressure and temperature below 4000 K

The melting of carbon at a pressure of about 1 atm is observed. The escape of liquid carbon from the heating region and its spread over the sample surface are observed in the experiments. The structural changes in graphite occurring in the melting region are determined from scanning tunneling microscope (STM) images obtained by means of an atomic force microscope and from Raman spectra. The STM images exhibit significant rearrangement of the structure of the graphite surface in the region of the escape of liquid carbon. The Raman spectra show that the graphite ordering degree increases significantly.     

用扫描隧道显微术进行单原子操纵的机理研究

本文简要综述利用扫描隧道显微镜（ＳＴＭ）进行单原子操纵的物理机制。主要介绍了场增强的扩散、在表面上拖动（ｐｕｌｉｎｇ）推动（ｐｕｓｈｉｎｇ）原子、原子在针尖表面间接触和近接触转移、场致蒸发／脱附、隧道电子非弹性射激发和电子迁移的“电子风力”等过程。同时介绍了一些理论处理方法和对一些实验结果的解释。