Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 8, 2026

In Situ SIMS and IR Spectroscopy of Well-defined Surfaces Prepared by Soft Landing of Mass-selected Ions
Published on: June 16, 2014
Hot carrier-selective chemical reactions on Ag(110)
Jae Ryang Hahn1, Sang Hoon Jang, Ki Wan Kim
1Department of Chemistry and Bioactive Materials Science and Research Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 561-756, Korea. jrhahn@jbnu.ac.kr
Abstract:
Here, we show that the pathways, products, and efficiencies of reactions occurring on a metal surface can be spatially modulated by varying the type and energy of hot carriers produced by injecting tunneling electrons or holes from a scanning tunneling microscope tip into the metal surface. Control over the metal surface reactions was demonstrated for the large-scale dissociation reaction of O2 molecules on a Ag(110) surface. Hot electrons (or holes) transported through the metal surface to chemisorbed O2 selectively dissociated the molecule into two oxygen atoms separated along the [110] (or [001]) lattice direction. The reaction selectivity was enhanced compared to the selectivity of a direct reaction involving tunneling carriers.
Related Concept Videos
Heterogeneous Catalysis
Cycloaddition Reactions: MO Requirements for Thermal Activation
Cycloaddition Reactions: MO Requirements for Photochemical Activation
Regioselectivity of Electrophilic Additions to Alkenes: Markovnikov's Rule
The hydrohalogenation of an unsymmetrical alkene can yield two haloalkane products, depending on which vinylic carbon takes up the halogen. However, one product usually predominates, where hydrogen adds to the vinylic carbon bearing the...
Reactions of Acid Anhydrides
Catalysis

