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Ordered array of single adatoms with remarkable thermal stability: Au/Fe3O4(001)
Zbyněk Novotný1, Giacomo Argentero, Zhiming Wang
1Institute of Applied Physics, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria.
Physical Review Letters
|September 26, 2012
Summary
Gold atoms selectively bind to specific sites on iron oxide surfaces at room temperature. This high thermal stability makes it a model system for studying single atomic species reactivity.
Area of Science:
- Surface science
- Materials science
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- The Fe3O4(001) surface exhibits a (√2 × √2)R45° reconstruction.
- This reconstruction leads to specific adsorption sites, termed "narrow" and "wide" hollow sites.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the adsorption behavior of gold (Au) on the Fe3O4(001) surface.
- Determine the preferred adsorption sites and thermal stability of gold adatoms.
Main Methods:
- Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) for atomic-scale imaging.
- X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) for surface composition analysis.
Main Results:
- Gold adatoms exclusively adsorb at the narrow hollow sites at low coverages.
- No significant sintering of gold adatoms was observed up to annealing temperatures of 400 °C.
- Site preference is attributed to charge and orbital ordering in the subsurface Fe layer.
Conclusions:
- The Fe3O4(001) surface provides highly stable, specific adsorption sites for gold.
- This system serves as an excellent model for studying the chemical reactivity of isolated atomic species.
