title: Isolation of an intrinsic precursor to molecular chemisorption
abstract: Over the past 70 years, numerous gas-surface adsorption studies have indicated the existence of a weakly bound, mobile intermediate that is a precursor to chemical bond formation. The direct observation and characterization of such a species are presented. Precursor and chemisorbed benzene on a silicon surface were clearly distinguished with the use of a tunable-temperature scanning tunneling microscope. Precursor decay to chemisorption was observed, allowing the salient features of the potential energy surface to be determined.
authors.affiliation: National Research Council of Canada (NRCC), Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences, 100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6, Canada.
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Moffatt
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Wolkow