0000000000201148
AUTHOR
Michael Reichling
Unravelling the atomic structure of cross-linked (1 × 2) TiO2(110).
The cross-linked (1 × 2) reconstruction of TiO(2)(110) is a frequently observed phase reflecting the surface structure of titania in a significantly reduced state. Here we resolve the atomic scale structure of the cross-linked (1 × 2) phase with dynamic scanning force microscopy operated in the non-contact mode (NC-AFM). From an analysis of the atomic-scale contrast patterns of the titanium and oxygen sub-structures obtained by imaging the surface with AFM tips having different tip apex termination, we infer the hitherto most accurate model of the atomic structure of the cross-linked (1 × 2) phase. Our findings suggest that the reconstruction is based on added rows in [001] direction built …
Atomic-resolution imaging of clean and hydrogen-terminated C(100)-(2×1)diamond surfaces using noncontact AFM
Received 22 April 2010; published 14 May 2010High-purity, type IIa diamond is investigated by noncontact atomic force microscopy NC-AFM .Wepresent atomic-resolution images of both the electrically conducting hydrogen-terminated C 100 - 2 1 :Hsurface and the insulating C 100 - 2 1 surface. For the hydrogen-terminated surface, a nearly square unitcell is imaged. In contrast to previous scanning tunneling microscopy experiments, NC-AFM imaging allowsboth hydrogen atoms within the unit cell to be resolved individually, indicating a symmetric dimer alignment.Upon removing the surface hydrogen, the diamond sample becomes insulating. We present atomic-resolutionimages, revealing individual C-C dim…
Monolayer Structure of Arachidic Acid on Graphite
The self-assembly of arachidic acid (C(19)H(39)COOH) at the liquid solid interface between 1-phenyloctane (C(6)H(5)(CH(2))(7)CH(3)) and highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) is studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to identify the structure of the monomolecular film. We observe the formation of highly ordered domains with molecules oriented in three different orientations compatible with the symmetry of the HOPG substrate, a spontaneous enantiomeric separation of the pro-chiral molecules, and reveal structural details with submolecular resolution. To determine the surface unit cell with an intrinsic calibration to the substrate atomic structure, the intermolecular distance is p…
Ab initio study of the F centers in CaF2: Calculations of the optical absorption, diffusion and binding energies
Abstract The ground electronic state of the F center in CaF 2 crystal, its optical absorption energy, the activation energy of thermal diffusion and M center dissociation to pair of F centers are calculated using the Hartree-Fock embedded molecular cluster method. Different pseudopotentials, basis sets, boundary conditions and two computer codes, EMBED96 and Gaussian94, are employed and their results compared.
Flexible drift-compensation system for precise 3D force mapping in severe drift environments
The acquisition of dense 3D data sets is of great importance, but also a challenge for scanning probe microscopy (SPM). Thermal drift often induces severe distortions in the data, which usually constrains the acquisition of dense data sets to experiments under ultra-high vacuum and low-temperature conditions. Atom tracking is an elegant approach to compensate for thermal drift and to position the microscope tip with highest precision. Here, we present a flexible drift compensation system which can easily be connected to existing SPM hardware. Furthermore, we describe a 3D data acquisition and position correction protocol, which is capable of handling large and non-linear drift as typically …
Steering molecular island morphology on an insulator surface by exploiting sequential deposition
Depending on the deposition order in coadsorption of C(60) and SubPc molecules on CaF(2) (111), distinctly different island morphologies can be obtained. We demonstrate that non-equilibrium processes can play a significant role in molecular structure formation and constitute a new route for complex molecular patterning of an insulating surface.
A diamond (1 0 0) surface with perfect phase purity
Abstract Diamond surfaces with (1 0 0) orientation and perfect phase purity regarding the coexistence of sp3 and sp2 bonding as well as near surface nitrogen implanted layers are repeatedly produced from one sample by a cycle of nitrogen implantation, etching in oxygen and wet chemical etching. Comprehensive surface studies carried out by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) involving a deconvolution of the C 1s peak into contributions of C sp3, C sp2 and C sp3(N) reveal the surface and near-surface phase and stoichiometry. It is demonstrated that efficient etching of nitrogen implanted diamond occurs by high temperature annealing in oxygen and a wet chemical treatment.
Cooperative mechanism for anchoring highly polar molecules at an ionic surface
Structure formation of the highly polar molecule cytosine on the (111) cleavage plane of calcium fluoride is investigated in ultrahigh vacuum using noncontact atomic force microscopy at room temperature. Molecules form well-defined trimer structures, covering the surface as homogeneously distributed stable structures. Density-functional theory calculations yield a diffusion barrier of about 0.5 eV for individual molecules suggesting that they are mobile at room temperature. Furthermore, it is predicted that the molecules can form trimers in a configuration allowing all molecules to attain their optimum adsorption position on the substrate. As the trimer geometry facilitates hydrogen bonding…
Achieving high effectiveQ-factors in ultra-high vacuum dynamic force microscopy
The effective Q-factor of the cantilever is one of the most important figures-of-merit for a non-contact atomic force microscope (NC-AFM) operated in ultra-high vacuum (UHV). We provide a comprehensive discussion of all effects influencing the Q-factor and compare measured Q-factors to results from simulations based on the dimensions of the cantilevers. We introduce a methodology to investigate in detail how the effective Q-factor depends on the fixation technique of the cantilever. Fixation loss is identified as a most important contribution in addition to the hitherto discussed effects and we describe a strategy for avoiding fixation loss and obtaining high effective Q-factors in the forc…
Second-layer induced island morphologies in thin-film growth of fullerenes.
Deposition of fullerenes on the CaF(2)(111) surface yields peculiar island morphologies with close similarities to previous findings for (100) surfaces of other ionic crystals. By means of noncontact atomic force microscopy we find a smooth transition from compact, triangular islands to branched hexagonal islands upon lowering the temperature. While triangular islands are two monolayers high, hexagonal islands have a base of one monolayer and exhibit a complicated structure with a second-layer outer rim and trenches oriented towards the interior. By developing a kinetic growth model we unravel the microscopic mechanisms of the structure formation.
Clear signature of the (2 x 1) reconstruction of calcite (1014).
Calcite is a mineral of fundamental importance that plays a crucial role in many fields of research such as biomineralization, biomolecule adsorption, and reactivity as well as industrial and daily life applications. Consequently, the most stable cleavage plane of calcite has been studied extensively using both direct imaging techniques such as atomic force microscopy as well as spectroscopic and diffraction techniques. Several surface structures have been reported for the (10 (1) over bar4) cleavage plane of calcite differing from the simple bulk-truncated structure and an ongoing controversy exists in literature whether the cleavage plane exhibits a (2 x 1) reconstruction or not. We study…
Thermal noise limit for ultra-high vacuum noncontact atomic force microscopy
The noise of the frequency-shift signal Δf in noncontact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM) consists of cantilever thermal noise, tip–surface-interaction noise and instrumental noise from the detection and signal processing systems. We investigate how the displacement-noise spectral density dz at the input of the frequency demodulator propagates to the frequency-shift-noise spectral density dΔf at the demodulator output in dependence of cantilever properties and settings of the signal processing electronics in the limit of a negligible tip–surface interaction and a measurement under ultrahigh-vacuum conditions. For a quantification of the noise figures, we calibrate the cantilever displacemen…
Quantitative description of C-60 diffusion on an insulating surface
The diffusion of ${\text{C}}_{60}$ molecules on large, atomically flat terraces of the ${\text{CaF}}_{2}(111)$ surface is studied under ultrahigh vacuum conditions at various substrate temperatures below room temperature. The weak molecule-substrate interaction on this insulating surface makes a direct observation of hopping events difficult. Therefore, to determine a quantitative value of the diffusion barrier, we employ the so-called onset method. This method is based on the analysis of spatial properties of islands created by nucleation of diffusing ${\text{C}}_{60}$ molecules, as measured by noncontact atomic force microscopy. We first determine the critical cluster size to be ${i}^{\en…
Tuning molecular self-assembly on bulk insulator surfaces by anchoring of the organic building blocks.
Molecular self-assembly constitutes a versatile strategy for creating functional structures on surfaces. Tuning the subtle balance between intermolecular and molecule-surface interactions allows structure formation to be tailored at the single-molecule level. While metal surfaces usually exhibit interaction strengths in an energy range that favors molecular self-assembly, dielectric surfaces having low surface energies often lack sufficient interactions with adsorbed molecules. As a consequence, application-relevant, bulk insulating materials pose significant challenges when considering them as supporting substrates for molecular self-assembly. Here, the current status of molecular self-ass…
Determining cantilever stiffness from thermal noise
We critically discuss the extraction of intrinsic cantilever properties, namely eigenfrequency fn, quality factor Qn and specifically the stiffness kn of the nth cantilever oscillation mode from thermal noise by an analysis of the power spectral density of displacement fluctuations of the cantilever in contact with a thermal bath. The practical applicability of this approach is demonstrated for several cantilevers with eigenfrequencies ranging from 50 kHz to 2 MHz. As such an analysis requires a sophisticated spectral analysis, we introduce a new method to determine kn from a spectral analysis of the demodulated oscillation signal of the excited cantilever that can be performed in the frequ…