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Ellipsomicroscopy for surface imaging: contrast mechanism, enhancement, and application to CO oxidation on Pt(110)
J Dicke1, H H Rotermund, J Lauterbach
1School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-1283, USA.
Abstract:
Ellipsomicroscopy for surface imaging (EMSI) is a powerful new tool for studying spatiotemporal adsorbate pattern formation on catalyst surfaces. It is a surface-sensitive technique that is able to measure submonolayer coverage of adsorbates. The imaging of the sample's surface achieves a spatial sensitivity, making it possible to measure nonuniformity of adsorbate coverage. The image contrast, however, depends strongly on the setup of the instrument. The optimum setup can be calculated from the ellipsometric properties of the catalyst/adsorbate system and the intrinsic parameters of the EMSI instrument. Optimizing the setup of the EMSI instrument permitted enhancement of the image contrast over the previous setup. As a result, new features in CO oxidation on Pt(110) were discovered.
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