Identification of an AgS₂ Complex on Ag(110)

Adsorbed sulfur has been investigated on the Ag(110) surface at two different coverages, 0.02 and 0.25 monolayers. At the lower coverage, only sulfur adatoms are present. At the higher coverage, there are additional bright features which we identify as linear, independent AgS₂ complexes. This identification is based upon density functional theory (DFT) and its comparison with experimental observations including bias dependence and separation between complexes. DFT also predicts the absence of AgS₂ complexes at low coverage, and the development of AgS₂ complexes around a coverage of 0.25 monolayers of sulfur, as is experimentally observed. To our knowledge, this is the first example of an isolated linear sulfur-metal-sulfur complex.