Jakob Blomquist

Growth of ultrathin ZrO2 films on Si(100): Film-thickness-dependent band alignment

The band alignment of ultrathin ZrO2 films of different thickness formed on Si(100) have been monitored with synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy and x-ray absorption spectroscopy. The films were deposited sequentially by way of metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition in ultrahigh vacuum. A significant decrease in the conduction band offset is found for increasing film thickness. It is accompanied by a corresponding increase of the valence band offset. The variations originate in the formation of an interfacial layer characterized by a lower degree of Zr-O interaction than in bulk ZrO2 but with no clear evidence for partially occupied Zr4d dangling bonds.

Surface-induced C–O bond anharmonicity of methoxy adsorbed on Cu(100): Experiments and density-functional theory calculations

The anharmonic properties of a surface intermediate, methoxy, adsorbed on Cu(100) are investigated by surface infrared overtone spectroscopy and density-functional-theory electronic structure calculations. The anharmonicity is measured in the zero-coverage limit, and it is observed that the anharmonicity is increased upon adsorption as compared with the free methanol. By combining experiments with calculations we demonstrate that modifications of the anharmonicity of the methoxy species is indeed induced by adsorption onto the copper surface and not by the formation of the methoxy species.

Band alignment at the ZrO2/Si(100) interface studied by photoelectron and x-ray absorption spectroscopy

We present measurements of the Zr and Si core level photoelectron binding energies relative to the Fermi level and the vacuum level under a ZrO2 growth series on Si(100). It is shown that the Zr core level binding energy is most properly referenced to the local vacuum level already from the monolayer regime. This confirms the insulating properties of ZrO2. The Si core levels are referenced to the Fermi level and undergo shifts consistent with the disappearance of the mid-band-gap states originating from the (2×1) reconstruction on the clean Si(100) surface. The use of O 1s x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) to determine the location of the conduction band edge of ZrO2 is discussed with the aid of ab initio calculations. It is demonstrated that the conduction band edge is located at the XAS peak position and that the position relative to the valence band can be determined by aligning the O 1s XAS spectrum to the O 1s photoelectron spectrum. The study thus establishes that photoelectron spectroscopy in con...

Heterogeneous reaction between Li and anatase TiO2 nanoparticles under ultra-high vacuum

We demonstrate heterogeneous chemistry between Li and anatase TiO2 nanoparticles under UHV. The reduction of TiO2 upon formation of lithium oxide proceeds via two different schemes: one that reduces Ti(4+) to Ti(3+) and one that reduces Ti(4+) directly to Ti(2+). The second scheme sets in only after a critical degree of reduction (i.e. Li amount) has been reached (Li/Ti = 0.28) and is associated with restructuring of the film. Two films with different morphologies were compared and the results demonstrate that the reaction between Li and larger TiO2 structures (30-50 nm) is kinetically restricted while such effects were significantly less prominent for small particles (10 nm).

Surface adsorbate vibrations explored by infrared spectroscopy and DFT cluster calculations at the anharmonic level: CO on Cu(100)

The vibrational properties of the CO/Cu(100) surface adsorbate system have been explored by infrared spectroscopy and DFT cluster calculations. We show that all four fundamental, FT(x,y), FR(x,y), FT(z) and ν(C-O), vibrational modes are very well reproduced with respect to experiments by the present calculations and they are at the highest level reported to date. Our work demonstrates that it is essential to include both anharmonicity and cluster relaxation when modeling the CO/Cu(100) system. The absence and presence of binary modes: 2 ×ν(C-O) and FT(z) + ν(C-O) in our experimental data are discussed as well.