Ethene stabilization on Cu(111) by surface roughness

Abstract

The molecular vibrations of ethene adsorbed on roughened Cu(111) surfaces have been investigated with high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy and density-functional-theory calculations. The roughness was introduced by sputtering or evaporation of copper, respectively, on the cooled surface. We found stabilization of the ethene layer compared to ethene adsorbed on pristine Cu(111). Furthermore, two new vibrational features observed on the rough surface can be assigned to frustrated translations and rotations of the ethene molecule on surface defects and are indicative of a different binding on the rough surface.

Electronic contributions to infrared spectra of adsorbate molecules on metal surfaces: Ethene on Cu(1 1 1)

“…With HREELS we were able to detect a broad dipoleactive vibrational feature at about 35-40 meV at the roughened surface at 85 K, which characterizes the roughened surface and vanishes after annealing to room temperature. 24 Vibrational features with similar energies are known from stepped surfaces 25,26 and are predicted for adatoms and small islands. 21,27,28 The development of the surface reflectivity for IR light and low-energy electrons, respectively, with increasing roughness is shown in Fig.…”

Review of CVD Synthesis of Graphene

“…According to first‐principles calculations within DFT, CC dimers are stable on all sites on a Cu surface. Moreover, carbon dimers containing hydrogen are very unfavorable on a surface with low adsorption energies, even in defects, and desorb or immediately decompose even at very low temperatures, as demonstrated in temperature‐programmed desorption (TPD) and thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) experiments . Complementary studies of acetylene (CH≡CH) aromatization over transition metals also demonstrated that the benzene ring is not stable at the metallic surface .…”

Simulation of inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy of single molecules with functionalized tips

“…As opposed to the CO molecule which is oriented perpendicular to the Cu(111) surface, the C 2 H 4 and CO 2 molecules form almost planar configurations on Cu(111). [44][45][46] The corresponding IETS spectra are represented in Fig. 4, where the positive voltage region (V > 0) corresponds to a realistic vibrational region which includes the sample CO, the tip and the top-most Cu layers, while the negative voltage region (V < 0) shows the results obtained for the imaginative but illustrative case when only the sample side (CO molecule and topmost Cu layer) vibrates.…”