title: Adsorption and charge transfer dynamics of bi-isonicotinic acid on Au(111).
abstract: The interaction of bi-isonicotinic acid (4,4(')-dicarboxy-2,2(')-bipyridine) with the Au(111) surface has been investigated using electron spectroscopic techniques. Near edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectra show that monolayers of the molecule lie flat to the surface and also reveal that the monolayer is sensitive to the preparation conditions employed. Core level x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) shows that the adsorbed molecule does not undergo deprotonation upon adsorption. The "core-hole clock" implementation of resonant photoemission has been used to probe the coupling between molecule and substrate. This technique has revealed the possibility of ultrafast backtransfer from the substrate into the molecule upon resonant excitation of a N 1s core level electron. This is supported by a NEXAFS and XPS investigation of energy level alignments in the system.
authors.affiliation: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 ZRD, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: J Ben
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Louise C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Mayor
authors.forename: Janine C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Swarbrick
authors.forename: James N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: O'Shea
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Isvoranu
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schnadt