Experimental and theoretical evidence for substitutional molybdenum atoms in theTiO2(110)subsurface

Molybdenum was deposited at room temperature on the ${\mathrm{TiO}}_{2}(110)$ surface in the 0--1.3 equivalent monolayer (eqML) range and was then annealed at $400\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}\mathrm{C}$ in order to reach a kind of equilibrium state. A threshold was found in the behavior of the deposit: below 0.2 eqML, substitutional molybdenum occurs in titanium sites located under the bridging oxygen atoms of the ${\mathrm{TiO}}_{2}(110)$ surface. In this position, molybdenum atoms are in a structural and chemical ${\mathrm{MoO}}_{2}$-like environment. Density-functional theory calculations show that this molybdenum site is actually the most stable one in …