Dynamics of the ultraviolet photochemistry of water adsorbed on Pd(111)

Chemical Reactivity of Strongly Interacting, Hydrogen-Bond-Forming Molecules Following 193 nm Photon Irradiation: Methanol in Amorphous Solid Water at Low Temperatures

Mixtures of methanol and amorphous solid water (ASW) ices are observed in the interstellar medium (ISM), where they are subject to irradiation by UV photons and bombardment by charged particles. The charged particles, if at high enough density, induce a local electric field in the ice film that potentially affects the photochemistry of these ices. When CD₃OD@ASW ices grown at 38 K on a Ru(0001) substrate are irradiated by 193 nm (6.4 eV) photons, products such as HD, D₂, CO, and CO₂ are formed in large abundances relative to the initial amount of CD₃OD. Other molecules such as D₂O, CD₄, acetaldehyde, and ethanol and/or dimethyl ether are also observed, but in smaller relative abundances. The reactivity cross sections range from (2.6 ± 0.3) × 10^-21 to (3.8 ± 0.3) × 10^-25 cm²/photon. The main products are formed through two competing mechanisms: direct photodissociation of methanol and water and dissociative electron attachment (DEA) by photoelectrons ejected from the Ru(0001) substrate. An electric field of 2 × 10⁸ V/m generated within the ASW film during Ne⁺ ions bombardment is apparently not strong enough to affect the relative abundances (selectivity) of the photochemical products observed in this study.

Plasmonic properties of aluminium nanowires in amorphous silicon

Plasmonic structures can help enhance optical activity in the ultraviolet (UV) region and therefore enhancing photocatalytic reactions and the detection of organic and biological species. Most plasmonic structures are composed of Ag or Au. However, producing structures small enough for optical activity in the UV region has proved difficult. In this study, we demonstrate that aluminium nanowires are an excellent alternative. We investigated the plasmonic properties of the Al nanowires as well as the optoelectronic properties of the surroundinga - Simatrix by combining scanning transmission electron microscopy imaging, electron energy loss spectroscopy and electrodynamic modelling. We have found that the Al nanowires have distinct plasmonic modes in the UV and far UV region, from 0.75 eV to 13 eV. In addition, simulated results found that the size and spacing of the Al nanowires, as well as the embedding material were shown to have a large impact on the type of surface plasmon energies that can be generated in the material. Using electromagnetic modelling, we have identified the modes and illustrated how they could be tuned further.

Plasma-induced surface cooling

Plasmas are an indispensable materials engineering tool due to their unique ability to deliver a flux of species and energy to a surface. This energy flux serves to heat the surface out of thermal equilibrium with bulk material, thus enabling local physicochemical processes that can be harnessed for material manipulation. However, to-date, there have been no reports on the direct measurement of the localized, transient thermal response of a material surface exposed to a plasma. Here, we use time-resolved optical thermometry in-situ to show that the energy flux from a pulsed plasma serves to both heat and transiently cool the material surface. To identify potential mechanisms for this ‘plasma cooling,’ we employ time-resolved plasma diagnostics to correlate the photon and charged particle flux with the thermal response of the material. The results indicate photon-stimulated desorption of adsorbates from the surface is the most likely mechanism responsible for this plasma cooling.

When a plasma interacts with a surface, different thermal effects may arise. Here, the authors explore plasma interactions with a surface that produce a surface cooling effect.

High-Energy Surface and Volume Plasmons in Nanopatterned Sub-10 nm Aluminum Nanostructures

In this work, we use electron energy-loss spectroscopy to map the complete plasmonic spectrum of aluminum nanodisks with diameters ranging from 3 to 120 nm fabricated by high-resolution electron-beam lithography. Our nanopatterning approach allows us to produce localized surface plasmon resonances across a wide spectral range spanning 2-8 eV. Electromagnetic simulations using the finite element method support the existence of dipolar, quadrupolar, and hexapolar surface plasmon modes as well as centrosymmetric breathing modes depending on the location of the electron-beam excitation. In addition, we have developed an approach using nanolithography that is capable of meV control over the energy and attosecond control over the lifetime of volume plasmons in these nanodisks. The precise measurement of volume plasmon lifetime may also provide an opportunity to probe and control the DC electrical conductivity of highly confined metallic nanostructures. Lastly, we show the strong influence of the nanodisk boundary in determining both the energy and lifetime of surface plasmons and volume plasmons locally across individual aluminum nanodisks, and we have compared these observations to similar effects produced by scaling the nanodisk diameter.

The relationship between interfacial bonding and radiation damage in adsorbed DNA

Illustration showing that secondary electrons have a higher damage probability for thiolated DNA as opposed to unthiolated DNA, due to the former's higher density of LUMO states, which leads to more efficient capture of the low energy electrons.

Strain relief and disorder in commensurate water layers formed on Pd(111)

Water adsorbs and desorbs intact on Pd(111), forming a hydrogen-bonded wetting layer whose structure we examine by low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and He atom scattering (HAS). LEED shows that water forms commensurate (√3 × √3)R30° clusters that aggregate into a partially ordered, approximately (7 × 7) superstructure as the layer completes. HAS indicates that the water layer remains disordered on a local (approximately 10 Å) scale. Based on workfunction measurements and density functional theory simulations we propose that water forms small, flat domains of a commensurate (√3 × √3)R30° water network, separated by disordered domain boundaries containing largely H-down water. This arrangement allows the water layer to adapt its density and relieve the lateral strain associated with adsorbing water in the optimum flat atop adsorption site. We discuss different possibilities for the structure of these domain walls and compare this strain relief mechanism to the highly ordered, large unit cell structures formed on surfaces such as Pt(111).

Crystalline ice growth on Pt(111) and Pd(111): nonwetting growth on a hydrophobic water monolayer

The growth of crystalline ice films on Pt(111) and Pd(111) is investigated using temperature programed desorption of the water films and of rare gases adsorbed on the water films. The water monolayer wets both Pt(111) and Pd(111) at all temperatures investigated [e.g., 20-155 K for Pt(111)]. However, crystalline ice films grown at higher temperatures (e.g., T>135 K) do not wet the monolayer. Similar results are obtained for crystalline ice films of D2O and H2O. Amorphous water films, which initially wet the surface, crystallize and dewet, exposing the water monolayer when they are annealed at higher temperatures. Thinner films crystallize and dewet at lower temperatures than thicker films. For samples sputtered with energetic Xe atoms to prepare ice crystallites surrounded by bare Pt(111), subsequent annealing of the films causes water molecules to diffuse off the ice crystallites to reform the water monolayer. A simple model suggests that, for crystalline films grown at high temperatures, the ice crystallites are initially widely separated with typical distances between crystallites of approximately 14 nm or more. The experimental results are consistent with recent theory and experiments suggesting that the molecules in the water monolayer form a surface with no dangling OH bonds or lone pair electrons, giving rise to a hydrophobic water monolayer on both Pt(111) and Pd(111).

Slab model studies of water adsorption and decomposition on clean and X- (X = C, N and O) contaminated Pd(111) surfaces

To explore the effect of surface contaminants on water chemistry at metallic surfaces, adsorption and decomposition of water monomers on clean and X/Pd(111)(X = C, N and O) surfaces are investigated based on density functional theory calculations. It is revealed that H(2)O binds to Pd(111) surface primarily through the mixing of its 1b(1) with the Pd 4d(z(2)) state. A charge accumulation between the oxygen atom of water and the bound Pd atom is calculated, which is found to be relevant to the H(2)O-Pd interaction. Water adsorption results in a reduction of surface work function and the polarization of the X 2p states. The O-H bond scission of H(2)O on the clean Pd(111) is an energy unfavorable process. In the case of X-assisted O-H bond breaking on X/Pd(111) surfaces, however, the reaction barrier tends to be lower than that on the clean surface and decreases from C/Pd(111) to O/Pd(111). In particular, water decomposition is found to become feasible on O/Pd(111), in agreement with the experimental observations. The calculated barrier is demonstrated to be correlated linearly with the density of X 2p states at the Fermi level. A thorough energy analysis demonstrates that the following geometrical and electronic factors favor the barrier reduction on X/Pd(111) with respect to water decomposition on clean Pd(111): (i) the less deformed structure of water in TS; (ii) the decreased bonding competition between the fragments OH and H. The remarkable decrease of the barrier on O/Pd(111) is revealed to be due to the largest stabilization of the split H atom and the least deformation of water in the TS.

Photo ejection of water molecules from amorphous ice films

Water molecules are photo-ejected upon laser irradiation from the surface of ice films grown on graphite (0001) and Pt(111). The films are deposited at temperatures between 40 and 140 K and irradiated with nanosecond laser pulses. The process is investigated in the wavelength range between 275 and 670 nm. The wavelength and photon flux dependence suggest a multi-photon process with energy threshold of around 9 eV. The photo-detachment is less effective or negligible from films annealed at temperatures above the amorphous-crystalline transition temperature of ice films. Coverage dependence of the phenomena relates the photo yield to surface roughness. Electronic excitation mechanism related to the defects in ice is proposed to explain the observations.

Photodissociation of polycrystalline and amorphous water ice films at 157 and 193nm

The photodissociation dynamics of amorphous solid water (ASW) films and polycrystalline ice (PCI) films at a substrate temperature of 100 K have been investigated by analyzing the time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectra of photofragment hydrogen atoms at 157 and 193 nm. For PCI films, the TOF spectrum recorded at 157 nm could be characterized by a combination of three different (fast, medium, and slow) Maxwell-Boltzmann energy distributions, while that measured at 193 nm can be fitted in terms of solely a fast component. For ASW films, the TOF spectra measured at 157 and 193 nm were both dominated by the slow component, indicating that the photofragment H atoms are accommodated to the substrate temperature by collisions. H atom formation at 193 nm is attributed to the photodissociation of water species on the ice surface, while at 157 nm it is ascribable to a mixture of surface and bulk photodissociations. Atmospheric implications in the high latitude mesopause region of the Earth are discussed.

Electron-stimulated production of molecular oxygen in amorphous solid water on Pt(111): Precursor transport through the hydrogen bonding network

The low-energy, electron-stimulated production of molecular oxygen from thin amorphous solid water (ASW) films adsorbed on Pt(111) is investigated. For ASW coverages less than approximately 60 ML, the O(2) electron-stimulated desorption (ESD) yield depends on coverage in a manner that is very similar to the H(2) ESD yield. In particular, both the O(2) and H(2) ESD yields have a pronounced maximum at approximately 20 ML due to reactions at the Pt/water interface. The O(2) yield is dose dependent and several precursors (OH, H(2)O(2), and HO(2)) are involved in the O(2) production. Layered films of H(2) (16)O and H(2) (18)O are used to profile the spatial distribution of the electron-stimulated reactions leading to oxygen within the water films. Independent of the ASW film thickness, the final reactions leading to O(2) occur at or near the ASW/vacuum interface. However, for ASW coverages less than approximately 40 ML, the results indicate that dissociation of water molecules at the ASW/Pt interface contributes to the O(2) production at the ASW/vacuum interface presumably via the generation of OH radicals near the Pt substrate. The OH (or possibly OH(-)) segregates to the vacuum interface where it contributes to the reactions at that interface. The electron-stimulated migration of precursors to the vacuum interface occurs via transport through the hydrogen bond network of the ASW without motion of the oxygen atoms. A simple kinetic model of the nonthermal reactions leading to O(2), which was previously used to account for reactions in thick ASW films, is modified to account for the electron-stimulated migration of precursors.

Electron-stimulated reactions in thin D2O films on Pt(111) mediated by electron trapping

We have measured the electron-stimulated desorption (ESD) of D(2), O(2), and D(2)O, the electron-stimulated dissociation of D(2)O at the D(2)O/Pt interface, and the total electron-stimulated sputtering in thin D(2)O films adsorbed on Pt(111) as a function of the D(2)O coverage (i.e., film thickness). Qualitatively different behavior is observed above and below a threshold coverage of approximately 2 monolayers (ML). For coverages less than approximately 2 ML electron irradiation results in D(2)O ESD and some D(2) ESD, but no detectible reactions at the water/Pt interface and no O(2) ESD. For larger coverages, electron-stimulated reactions at the water/Pt interface occur, O(2) is produced and the total electron-stimulated sputtering of the film increases. An important step in the electron-stimulated reactions is the reaction between water ions (generated by the incident electrons) and electrons trapped in the water films to form dissociative neutral molecules. However, the electron trapping depends sensitively on the water coverage: For coverages less than approximately 2 ML, the electron trapping probability is low and the electrons trap preferentially at the water/vacuum interface. For larger coverages, the electron trapping increases and the electrons are trapped in the bulk of the film. We propose that the coverage dependence of the trapped electrons is responsible for the observed coverage dependence of the electron-stimulated reactions.