Flat gold nanoparticles (FGNPs) grown in aqueous solution have large Au(111) facets that are excellent substrates for scanning probe microscopy. However adsorbed stabilizers (e.g. polyelectrolytes) must be removed or displaced before the FGNP surfaces can be used as single crystal surfaces. We have explored the effects of plasma cleaning, UV ozone, and thermal annealing on the surface roughness and the Au(111) terrace structure using STM.

This work has been supported by NSF CAREER grant No. CHE- 0239803, NSF MRSEC No. DMR-0080054, NSF No. DMR-0805233d NSF, and AFOSR No. FA9550- 06-1-0365.

The bonding sites for Au-adatom-octanethiolate within the (√3×√3)R30° structure on Au(111) has been investigated with high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) imaging. By establishing the relationship between the lateral positions of adsorbates on the top layer of gold and those inside an etch pit, we are able to determine the adsorption configuration with a high degree of accuracy for the illusive (√3×√3)R30° molecular layer. Within any one particular domain, the Au-adatom-octanethiolate species are found to occupy either the fcc hollow or the hcp hollow site.

While Spin-Polarized Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy (SP-STM) [1] is nowadays well established for revealing atomic spin configurations at surfaces, its application is limited to electrically conducting samples such as magnetic metals or semiconductors. In order to map atomic spin structures at surfaces of insulators and to open up the exciting possibility of studying spin ordering effects with atomic resolution while going through a metal-insulator transition, we have developed Magnetic Exchange Force Microscopy (MExFM) [2]. This technique is based on the detection of short-range spin-dependent exchange and correlation forces at very small tip-sample separations (a few Angstroms), in contrast to Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM) where the magnetic dipole forces are probed with a ferromagnetic probe tip at a typical tip-to-surface distance of 10-20 nm [3]. MExFM has allowed a first direct real-space observation of spin structures at surfaces of antiferromagnetic bulk insulators [2] as well as ultrathin films [4]. Moreover, it provides a powerful new tool to investigate different types of spin-spin interactions based on direct-, super-, or RKKY-type exchange down to the atomic level. By combining MExFM with high-precision measurements of damping forces [5] localized or confined spin excitations in magnetic systems of reduced dimensions become experimentally accessible [1].

[1] R. Wiesendanger, Rev. Mod. Phys. 81, 1495 (2009).

[2] U. Kaiser, A. Schwarz, and R. Wiesendanger, Nature 446, 522 (2007)

[3] Y. Martin and K. Wickramsinghe, Appl. Phys. Lett. 50, 1455 (1987); J. J. Saenz, N. Garcia, P. Grütter, E. Meyer, H. Heinzelmann, R. Wiesendanger, L. Rosenthaler, H. R. Hidber, and H.-J. Güntherodt, J. Appl. Phys. 62, 4293 (1987)

[4] R. Schmidt, C. Lazo, H. Hölscher, U. H. Pi, V. Cacius, A. Schwarz, R. Wiesendanger,

and S. Heinze, Nano Lett. 9, 200 (2009).

[5] M. Ashino, D. Obergfell, M. Haluska, S. Yang, A. N. Khlobystov, S. Roth,

and R. Wiesendanger, Nature Nanotechnol. 3, 337 (2008);

M. Ashino, R. Wiesendanger, A. N. Khlobystov, S. Berber, and D. Tomanek,

Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 195503 (2009)

Chemistry is governed by the interactions between atoms and molecules. On surfaces, chemical forces extending into the vacuum direct the behavior of many scientifically and technically important phenomena including surface catalysis. Therefore, it would be useful to map and quantify the interactions between a catalytically active surface and a probe with atomic resolution in order to study the role and effectiveness of various surface defects such as vacancies, impurities, steps, kinks, and domain boundaries as active sites. An ability to discriminate between different chemical species on the sample surface would offer further insight. In this talk, we will show with the example of an oxygen-reconstructed copper (100) surface that much of this information can be derived from combining the new method of three-dimensional atomic force microscopy (3D-AFM) [1], a variant of noncontact atomic force microscopy, with scanning tunneling microscopy. The surface oxide layer of Cu(100) features domain boundaries and a distinct structure of the Cu and O sublattices that is ideally suited for such model investigations. While different tips show different chemical contrasts, 3D data sets enable site-specific quantification of force interactions and tunneling currents. In order to clarify the different contrast modes data, DFT total-energy calculations and Non-equilibrium Green’s Function (NEGF) methods for electronic transport have been used to determine the interaction and the tunneling current [2-4] for a large set of tip models. These calculations provide insight into (1) the fundamentals of contrast formation in this experimental technique and (2) into the correlation between tip-sample forces and local chemical reactivity, factors that are essential for the further development and application of this novel approach to characterizing catalytic activity.

[1] B. J. Albers et al., Nature Nanotechnology 4, 307 (2009)

[2] Y. Sugimoto et al., Nature 440, 46 (2007)

[3] P. Jelinek et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 176101 (2008)

[4] J. M. Blanco, F. Flores, and R. Perez, Prog. Surf. Sci. 81, 403 (2006)