A study of some molecular interactions on alumina surfaces by inelastic electron tunnelling spectroscopy

Abstract

Further developments have been carried out to improve the resolution and sensitivity of the spectrometer by introducing a dual phase lock-in amplifier and using new software to enhance the flexibility of the computer interfaced with the spectrometer. The spectrometer has been utilised to study a variety of molecular orientations on an alumina substrate. These have included an investigation to distinguish optical and geometrical isomers together with some alkynes in order to explore the validity of the previously proposed Selection Rule. The new observation that the triple bond is detected even when parallel to the substrate surface is reported. An attempt to study the polymerisation of ethylene on an alumina substrate has been carried out and some evidence is presented to support an increase in polymerisation with time. It has been shown that formic acid is produced 'in situ' within an aluminium-aluminium oxide-lead tunnelling junction from atmospheric carbon dioxide and water. A mechanism to account for this reaction is proposed. Junction structure has been studied particularly by utilising a modified crystal oscillator thickness monitor to investigate the influence of electrode and insulating oxide thickness both on junction electrical integrity and the mechanism of doping completed tunnelling junctions