title: Rotational and vibrational excitations of a hydrogen molecule trapped within a nanocavity of tunable dimension.
abstract: The rotational and vibrational transitions of a hydrogen molecule weakly adsorbed on the Au(110) surface at 10 K were detected by inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy with a scanning tunneling microscope. The energies of the j=0 to j=2 rotational transition for para-H(2) and HD indicate that the molecule behaves as a three-dimensional rigid rotor trapped within the tunnel junction. An increase in the bond length of H(2) was precisely measured from the downshift in the rotational energy as the tip-substrate distance decreases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-4575, USA.
authors.forename: Shaowei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Arthur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Freddy
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Toledo
authors.forename: Zhumin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: H Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Ruqian
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ho