Control of the charge state of metal atoms on thin MgO films.
The arrangement of single gold and palladium atoms deposited on the surface of a 3 monolayer thin film of MgO was investigated using low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. While Pd atoms are arranged in a random fashion, Au forms an ordered array on the surface. The long-range ordering as well as the scanning tunneling microscopy appearance of single Au atoms on a 3 monolayer thin MgO film can be explained by partial charge transfer from the substrate to Au atoms as predicted recently by density functional theory calculations [Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 226104 (2005)10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.226104]. In contrast with that, Au atoms on a thick film were found to be essentially neutral.
Sterrer
Martin
M
Department of Chemical Physics, Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Faradayweg 4-6, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.
Risse
Thomas
T
Martinez Pozzoni
Umberto
U
Giordano
Livia
L
Heyde
Markus
M
Rust
Hans-Peter
HP
Pacchioni
Gianfranco
G
Freund
Hans-Joachim
HJ