Chemical effects on vibrational properties of adsorbed molecules on metal surfaces

Vibrational properties of chemisorbed molecules on metal surfaces are studied with a focus on the coverage (θ) dependent chemical shift of the frequencies. The electronic properties of an incomplete monolayer of adsorbates are calculated by means of the coherent potential approximation, in which the electron hopping between the adsorbates (band formation effect) and the depolarization effect due to the proximity of ionized adsorbed molecules are taken into account consideration. It is found that in a weakly chemisorbed system, such as CO/Cu, the negative shift in chemical origin amounts to the positive dipole shift at low coverage. It is also shown that the variation of the back-donated charge with θ gives rise to the coverage dependent polarizability, which in turn influences the frequency shift estimated by the previous dipole coupling theory. The coverage dependent back-donation also plays a significant role in the work function change Δϕ of the substrate. The polarity of a weakly chemisorbed CO remains unchanged compared to a free CO (⁻CO⁺) so that Δϕ exhibits the initial lowering in the presence of the positive dipoles. The increase in the back-donated charge with θ causes the decrease in the effective dipole moment towards a compensation of the positive hole due to 5σ donation. A simple explanation is offered to clarify the characteristic difference of the work function change between the strongly and weakly chemisorbed CO molecules on metal surfaces. In particular, a possible origin of the work function minimum observed for CO/Cu systems is discussed in terms of the coverage dependent back-donation.