Sulfur-induced structural motifs on copper and gold surfaces

The interaction of sulfur with copper and gold surfaces plays a fundamental role in important phenomena that include coarsening of surface nanostructures, and self-assembly of alkanethiols. Here, we identify and analyze unique sulfur-induced structural motifs observed on the low-index surfaces of these two metals. We seek out these structures in an effort to better understand the fundamental interactions between these metals and sulfur that lends to the stability and favorability of metal-sulfur complexes vs. chemisorbed atomic sulfur. We choose very specific conditions: very low temperature (5 K), and very low sulfur coverage (≤ 0.1 monolayer). In this region of temperature-coverage space, which has not been examined previously for these adsorbate-metal systems, the effects of individual interactions between metals and sulfur are most apparent and can be assessed extensively with the aid of theory and modeling. Furthermore, at this temperature diffusion is minimal and relatively-mobile species can be isolated, and at low coverage the structures observed are not consumed by an extended reconstruction. The primary experimental technique is scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The experimental observations presented here—made under identical conditions—together with extensive DFT analyses, allow comparisons and insights into factors that favor the existence of metal-sulfur complexes, vs. chemisorbed atomic sulfur, on metal terraces. We believe this data will be instrumental in better understanding the complex phenomena occurring between the surfaces of coinage metals and sulfur

Analytic formulations for one-dimensional decay of rectangular homoepitaxial islands during coarsening on anisotropic fcc (110) surfaces

Submonolayer homoepitaxial fcc (110) systems display behavior reflecting strong anisotropy at lower temperatures, including one-dimensional decay during Ostwald ripening of rectangular islands maintaining constant width in the 〈001〉 direction. To appropriately describe this behavior, we first develop a refined continuum Burton-Cabrera-Frank formalism, which accounts for a lack of equilibration of island shape and importantly also for inhibited incorporation of adatoms at almost-faceted 〈1̄10〉 island edges through effective kinetic coefficients. This formalism is shown to describe accurately the adatom diffusion fluxes between islands and thus island evolution for a complex experimental island configuration, as confirmed by matching results from realistic atomistic simulations for this configuration. This approach also elucidates basic dependencies of flux on island geometry and temperature. Second, a further refinement is presented incorporating separate terrace and edge adatom density fields either in a continuum setting or alternatively in a spatially discrete diffusion equation setting. The second approach allows more flexibility and accuracy in accounting for edge-diffusion kinetics including corner rounding, a lack of equilibration of the edge adatom density atisland edges, and the effect of rare kinks onisland edges. Significantly, it suggests facile two-way corner rounding at the island periphery during island decay, contrasting the previous picture

Search for the Structure of a Sulfur-Induced Reconstruction on Cu(111)

We have carried out an extensive DFT-based search for the structure of the (√43 × √43)R ± 7.5° reconstruction of S on Cu(111), which exhibits a honeycombtype structure in scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). We apply two criteria in this search: The structure must have a reasonably low chemical potential, and it must provide a good match with STM data, both our own and the data published by Wahlström et al. Phys. Rev. B 1999, 60, 10699. The best model has 12 S adatoms and 9 Cu adatoms per unit cell. Local defects within the Cu9S12 framework, consisting of one missing or one extra Cu adatom per unit cell, would be difficult to detect with STM and would not be energetically costly. There is no obvious correlation between this model and the structure of bulk CuS. If the √43 reconstruction is viewed in terms of local building blocks, then CuS3 and CuS2 clusters, linked by shared S atoms, provides the best description

Long-Range Displacive Reconstruction of Au(110) Triggered by Low Coverage of Sulfur

We propose a new model for the c(4 × 2) phase of sulfur adsorbed on Au(110). This is a reconstruction achieved by short-range rearrangements of Au atoms that create a pseudo-4-fold-hollow (p4fh) site for adsorbed sulfur. The model is based partly upon the agreement between experimental STM images and those predicted from DFT, both within c(4 × 2) domains and at a boundary between two domains. It is also based on the stability of this structure in DFT, where it is not only favored over the chemisorbed phase at its ideal coverage of 0.25 ML, but also at lower coverage (at T = 0 K). This is compatible with the fact that in experiments, it coexists with 0.06 ± 0.03 ML of sulfur chemisorbed on the (1 × 2) surface. The relative stability of the c(4 × 2) phase at 0.25 ML has been verified for a variety of functionals in DFT. In the chemisorbed phase, sulfur adsorbs at a pseudo-3-fold-hollow (p3fh) site near the tops of rows in the (1 × 2) reconstruction. This is similar to the fcc site on an extended (111) surface. Sulfur causes a slight separation between the two topmost Au atoms, which is apparent both in STM images and in DFT-optimized structures. The second-most stable site is also a p3fh site, similar to an hcp site. DFT is used to construct a simple lattice gas model based on pairs of excluded sites. The set of excluded sites is in good qualitative agreement with our STM data. From DFT, the diffusion barrier of a sulfur atom is 0.61 eV parallel to the Au row, and 0.78 eV perpendicular to the Au row. For the two components of the perpendicular diffusion path, that is, crossing a trough and hopping over a row, the former is considerably more difficult than the latter

Anisotropic coarsening: One-dimensional decay of Ag islands on Ag(110)

Scanning tunneling microscopy studies show that coarsening of arrays of rectangular single-layer Ag islands on Ag(110) at 220 K and below occurs by one-dimensional (1D) decay of narrower islands, which maintain roughly constant width in the 〈001〉 direction. Adatoms mainly detach from the island ends with 〈001〉 step edges. 1D decay derives from the absence of corner rounding diffusion from 〈001〉 to 〈1̅ 10〉 edges and from inhibited nucleation of new layers on 〈1̅ 10〉 edges. In contrast, rounding from 〈1̅ 10〉 to 〈001〉 edges is active. The island decay rate exhibits an unexpectedly low effective Arrhenius energy due to a combination of strong anisotropy in terrace diffusion and a decrease with temperature of typical island end-to-end separations. Behavior is described by atomistic modeling, which accurately captures both the thermodynamics and the edge diffusion kinetics of the system, in contrast to previous treatments. Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulations assess model behavior and clarify the driving force for coarsening, as well as various detailed features of the 1D decay process. Refined “atom-tracking” KMC simulations for island configurations matching the experiment recover the experimentally observed island decay times and further elucidate spatial aspects of the transfer of adatoms between islands

Characteristics of sulfur atoms adsorbed on Ag(100), Ag(110), and Ag(111) as probed with scanning tunneling microscopy: experiment and theory

In this paper, we report that S atoms on Ag(100) and Ag(110) exhibit a distinctive range of appearances in scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images, depending on the sample bias voltage, VS. Progressing from negative to positive VS, the atomic shape can be described as a round protrusion surrounded by a dark halo (sombrero) in which the central protrusion shrinks, leaving only a round depression. This progression resembles that reported previously for S atoms on Cu(100). We test whether DFT can reproduce these shapes and the transition between them, using a modified version of the Lang–Tersoff–Hamann method to simulate STM images. The sombrero shape is easily reproduced, but the sombrero-depression transition appears only for relatively low tunneling current and correspondingly realistic tip–sample separation, dT, of 0.5–0.8 nm. Achieving these conditions in the calculations requires sufficiently large separation (vacuum) between slabs, together with high energy cutoff, to ensure appropriate exponential decay of electron density into vacuum. From DFT, we also predict that an analogous transition is not expected for S atoms on Ag(111) surfaces. The results are explained in terms of the through-surface conductance, which defines the background level in STM, and through-adsorbate conductance, which defines the apparent height at the point directly above the adsorbate. With increasing VS, for Ag(100) and Ag(110), we show that through-surface conductance increases much more rapidly than through-adsorbate conductance, so the apparent adsorbate height drops below background. In contrast, for Ag(111) the two contributions increase at more comparable rates, so the adsorbate level always remains above background and no transition is seen

Cu2 S3 complex on Cu(111) as a candidate for mass transport enhancement

Sulfur-metal complexes, containing only a few atoms, can open new, highly efficient pathways for transport of metal atoms on surfaces. For example, they can accelerate changes in the shape and size of morphological features, such as two-dimensional nanoclusters, over time. In this study we perform STM under conditions that are designed to specifically isolate such complexes. We find a new, unexpected S-Cu complex on the Cu(111) surface, which we identify as Cu2S3. We propose that Cu2S3 enhances mass transport in this system, which contradicts a previous proposal based on Cu3S3. We analyze bonding within these Cu-S complexes, identifying a principle for stabilization of sulfur complexes on coinage metal surfaces.open44

The (111) Surface of NaAu2: Structure, Composition, and Stability

The (111) surface of single-crystal NaAu2 is a model for catalytically active, powdered NaAu2. We prepare and characterize this surface with a broad suite of techniques. Preparation in ultrahigh vacuum consists of the traditional approach of ion bombardment (to remove impurities) and thermal annealing (to restore surface order). Both of these steps, however, cause loss of sodium (Na), and repeated treatments eventually trigger conversion of the surface and near-surface regions to crystalline gold. The bulk has a limited ability to repopulate the surface Na. Under conditions where Na depletion is minimized, electron diffraction patterns are consistent with the bulkterminated structure, and scanning tunneling microscopy reveals mesa-like features with lateral dimensions of a few tens of nanometers. The tops of the mesas do not possess fine structure characteristic of a periodic lattice, suggesting that the surface layer is disordered under the conditions of these experiments

Intermetallic NaAu2 as a Heterogeneous Catalyst for Low- Temperature CO Oxidation

The enhanced stability and modified electronic structure of intermetallic compounds provide discovery of superior catalysts for chemical conversions with high activity, selectivity, and stability. We find that the intermetallic NaAu2 is an active catalyst for CO oxidation at low temperatures. From density functional theory calculations, a reaction mechanism is suggested to explain the observed low reaction barrier of CO oxidation by NaAu2, in which a CO molecule reacts directly with an adsorbed O2 to form an OOCO* intermediate. The presence of surface Na increases the binding energy of O2 and decreases the energy barrier of the transition states