149 research outputs found
Plasmon localization by adatoms in gold atomic wires on Si(775)
Self-organized gold chains on vicinal Si(111) surfaces represent prototype examples of quasi-one-dimensional objects that are stabilized by hybridization with Si surface states. Their plasmons contain important information about the unoccupied bandstructure close to the Fermi level. Using Si(775)-Au as an example, we report here the modifications of the plasmon dispersion by the simple atomic adatom species H and O. Using a combination of low energy electron diffraction and high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy, we study the interconnection between plasmonic excitation and the corresponding local surface structure. Both adsorbates do not destroy metallicity, but, similar to Si(553)-Au, atomic hydrogen enhances dimerization of the Au chains, which at small concentrations counteracts the disorder introduced by random adsorption. This effect, most likely caused by electron donation of H to the surface states, is missing in case of adsorbed oxygen, so that only the effect of disorder is observed. For both adsorbates increasing disorder as a function of adsorbate concentration finally results in plasmon localization and opening of a band gap
Observation of correlated spin-orbit order in a strongly anisotropic quantum wire system
Quantum wires with spin-orbit coupling provide a unique opportunity to
simultaneously control the coupling strength and the screened Coulomb
interactions where new exotic phases of matter can be explored. Here we report
on the observation of an exotic spin-orbit density wave in Pb-atomic wires on
Si(557) surfaces by mapping out the evolution of the modulated spin-texture at
various conditions with spin- and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy.
The results are independently quantified by surface transport measurements. The
spin polarization, coherence length, spin dephasing rate, and the associated
quasiparticle gap decrease simultaneously as the screened Coulomb interaction
decreases with increasing excess coverage, providing a new mechanism for
generating and manipulating a spin-orbit entanglement effect via electronic
interaction. Despite clear evidence of spontaneous spin-rotation symmetry
breaking and modulation of spin-momentum structure as a function of excess
coverage, the average spin-polarization over the Brillouin zone vanishes,
indicating that time-reversal symmetry is intact as theoretically predicted
Scaling of the Hysteresis Loop in Two-dimensional Solidification
The first order phase transitions between a two-dimensional (2d) gas and the
2d solid of the first monolayer have been studied for the noble gases Ar, Kr
and Xe on a NaCl(100) surface in quasi-equilibrium with the three-dimensional
gas phase. Using linear temperature ramps, we show that the widths of the
hysteresis loops of these transitions as a function of the heating rate, r,
scales with a power law r^alpha with alpha between 0.4 and 0.5 depending on the
system. The hysteresis loops for different heating rates are similar. The
island area of the condensed layer was found to grow initially with a t^4 time
dependence. These results are in agreement with theory, which predicts alpha =
0.5 and hysteresis loop similarity.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, Revte
Towards a first-principles theory of surface thermodynamics and kinetics
Understanding of the complex behavior of particles at surfaces requires
detailed knowledge of both macroscopic and microscopic processes that take
place; also certain processes depend critically on temperature and gas
pressure. To link these processes we combine state-of-the-art microscopic, and
macroscopic phenomenological, theories. We apply our theory to the O/Ru(0001)
system and calculate thermal desorption spectra, heat of adsorption, and the
surface phase diagram. The agreement with experiment provides validity for our
approach which thus identifies the way for a predictive simulation of surface
thermodynamics and kinetics.Comment: 4 pages including 3 figures. Related publications can be found at
http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/th/paper.htm
Diffusion in a strongly correlated anisotropic overlayer
We study the collective diffusion in chain structures on anisotropic
substrates like (112) bcc and (110) fcc surfaces with deep troughs in the
substrate potential corrugation. These chain structures are aligned normal to
the troughs and can move only along the troughs. In a combination of
theoretical arguments and of numerical simulations, we study the mass transport
in these anisotropic systems. We find that a mechanism similar to soliton
diffusion, instead of single particle diffusion, is still effective at
temperatures well above the melting temperature of the ordered chain
structures. This mechanism is directly correlated with the ordered phases that
appear at much lower temperatures. As a consequence, also the influence of
frozen disorder is still visible above the melting temperature. Theoretically
we predict a strong dependence of the pre-exponential factor and weak
dependence of the activation energy on the concentration of frozen surface
defects. These predictions are confirmed by the simulations.Comment: Latex file, 18 pages and 9 eps figures include
Oxidation of graphene on metals
We use low-energy electron microscopy to investigate how graphene is removed
from Ru(0001) and Ir(111) by reaction with oxygen. We find two mechanisms on
Ru(0001). At short times, oxygen reacts with carbon monomers on the surrounding
Ru surface, decreasing their concentration below the equilibrium value. This
undersaturation causes a flux of carbon from graphene to the monomer gas. In
this initial mechanism, graphene is etched at a rate that is given precisely by
the same non-linear dependence on carbon monomer concentration that governs
growth. Thus, during both growth and etching, carbon attaches and detaches to
graphene as clusters of several carbon atoms. At later times, etching
accelerates. We present evidence that this process involves intercalated
oxygen, which destabilizes graphene. On Ir, this mechanism creates observable
holes. It also occurs mostly quickly near wrinkles in the graphene islands,
depends on the orientation of the graphene with respect to the Ir substrate,
and, in contrast to the first mechanism, can increase the density of carbon
monomers. We also observe that both layers of bilayer graphene islands on Ir
etch together, not sequentially.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures. Manuscript revised to improve discussion,
following referee comments. Accepted for publication in Journal of Physical
Chemistry C, Feb. 11, 201
Anomalous thickness dependence of the Hall effect in ultrathin Pb layers on Si(111)
The magnetoconductive properties of ultrathin Pb films deposited on Si(111)
are measured and compared with density-functional electronic band-structure
calculations on two-dimensional, free-standing, 1 to 8 monolayers thick Pb(111)
slabs. A description with free-standing slabs is possible because it turned out
that the Hall coefficient is independent of the substrate and of the
crystalline order in the film. We show that the oscillations in sign of the
Hall coefficient observed as a function of film thickness can be explained
directly from the thickness dependent variations of the electronic
bandstructure at the Fermi energy.Comment: 4 pages incl. 3 figures, RevTeX, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Anomalous Behavior of Ru for Catalytic Oxidation: A Theoretical Study of the Catalytic Reaction CO + 1/2 O_2 --> CO_2
Recent experiments revealed an anomalous dependence of carbon monoxide
oxidation at Ru(0001) on oxygen pressure and a particularly high reaction rate.
Below we report density functional theory calculations of the energetics and
reaction pathways of the speculated mechanism. We will show that the
exceptionally high rate is actuated by a weakly but nevertheless well bound
(1x1) oxygen adsorbate layer. Furthermore it is found that reactions via
scattering of gas-phase CO at the oxygen covered surface may play an important
role. Our analysis reveals, however, that reactions via adsorbed CO molecules
(the so-called Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism) dominate.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Phys. Rev. Letters, Feb. 1997, in prin
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