No Arabic abstract
Surface alloying is a straightforward route to control and modify the structure and electronic properties of surfaces. Here, We present a systematical study on the structural and electronic properties of three novel rare earth-based intermetallic compounds, namely ReAu2 (Re = Tb, Ho, and Er), on Au(111) via directly depositing rare-earth metals onto the hot Au(111) surface. Scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy measurements reveal the very similar atomic structures and electronic properties, e.g. electronic states, and surface work functions, for all these intermetallic compound systems due to the physical and chemical similarities between these rare earth elements. Further, these electronic properties are periodically modulated by the moire structures caused by the lattice mismatches between ReAu2 and Au(111). These periodically modulated surfaces could serve as templates for the self-assembly of nanostructures. Besides, these two-dimensional rare earth-based intermetallic compounds provide platforms to investigate the rare earth related catalysis, magnetisms, etc., in the lower dimensions.
Here, we demonstrate two reliable routes for the fabrication of armchair-edge graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) on TbAu2/Au(111), belonging to a class of two-dimensional ferromagnetic rare earth-gold intermetallic compounds. On-surface synthesis directly on TbAu2 leads to the formation of GNRs, which are short and interconnected with each other. In contrast, the intercalation approach - on-surface synthesis of GNRs directly on Au(111) followed by rare earth intercalation - yields GNRs on TbAu2/Au(111), where both the ribbons and TbAu2 are of high quality comparable with those directly grown on clean Au(111). Besides, the as-grown ribbons retain the same band gap while changing from p-doping to weak n-doping mainly due to a change in the work function of the substrate after the rare earth intercalation. The intercalation approach might also be employed to fabricate other types of GNRs on various rare earth intermetallic compounds, providing platforms to tailor the electronic and magnetic properties of GNRs on magnetic substrates.
Since the discovery of graphene, two-dimensional materials with atomic level thickness have rapidly grown to be a prosperous field of physical science with interdisciplinary interests, for their fascinating properties and broad applications. Very recently, the experimental observation of ferromagnetism in Cr$_2$Ge$_2$Te$_6$ bilayer and CrI$_3$ monolayer opened a door to pursuit long-absent intrinsic magnetic orders in two-dimensional materials. Meanwhile, the ferroelectricity was also experimentally found in SnTe monolayer and CuInP$_2$S$_6$ few layers. The emergence of these ferroic orders in the two-dimensional limit not only brings new challenges to our physical knowledge, but also provides more functionalities for potential applications. Among various two-dimensional ferroic ordered materials, transition/rare-earth metal halides and their derivants are very common. In this Research Update, based on transition/rare-earth metal halides, the physics of various ferroic orders in two-dimensional will be illustrated. The potential applications based on their magnetic and polar properties will also be discussed.
On a gold surface, supramolecules composed of 4-acetylbiphenyl molecules show structural directionality, reproducibility and robustness to external perturbations. We investigate the assembly of those molecules on the Au(111) surface and analyze how the observed supramolecular structures are the result of weak long-range dispersive forces stabilizing the 4-acetylbiphenyl molecules together. Metallic adatoms serve as stabilizing agents. Our analysis suggests new ways of creating complex molecular nano-objects that can eventually be used as devices or as seeds for extended hierarchical structures.
In this manuscript we report helium atom scattering (HAS) measurements of the structure of the first H2O layer on Au(111). The interaction between H2O and Au(111) is believed to be particularly weak and conflicting evidence from several indirect studies has suggested that water either grows as 3D ice crystals or as an amorphous wetting layer. In contrast, our measurements show that between 110K and 130K, H2O grows as highly commensurate well ordered islands which only partially wet the gold surface. The islands produce a clear (sqrt3Xsqrt3)R30 diffraction pattern and are characterized by a well defined height of ~ 5 Angstrom with respect to the surface gold atoms. These findings provide support for a unique double bilayer model which has recently been suggested for this surface.
We present a detailed theoretical investigation on the magnetic properties of small single-layered Fe, Co and Ni clusters deposited on Ir(111), Pt(111) and Au(111). For this a fully relativistic {em ab-initio} scheme based on density functional theory has been used. We analyse the element, size and geometry specific variations of the atomic magnetic moments and their mutual exchange interactions as well as the magnetic anisotropy energy in these systems. Our results show that the atomic spin magnetic moments in the Fe and Co clusters decrease almost linearly with coordination on all three substrates, while the corresponding orbital magnetic moments appear to be much more sensitive to the local atomic environment. The isotropic exchange interaction among the cluster atoms is always very strong for Fe and Co exceeding the values for bulk bcc Fe and hcp Co, whereas the anisotropic Dzyaloshinski-Moriya interaction is in general one or two orders of magnitude smaller when compared to the isotropic one. For the magnetic properties of Ni clusters the magnetic properties can show quite a different behaviour and we find in this case a strong tendency towards noncollinear magnetism.