The ReactorSTM: atomically resolved scanning tunneling microscopy under high-pressure, high-temperature catalytic reaction conditions.
THE REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 2014;
85:083703. [PMID:
25173272 DOI:
10.1063/1.4891811]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
To enable atomic-scale observations of model catalysts under conditions approaching those used by the chemical industry, we have developed a second generation, high-pressure, high-temperature scanning tunneling microscope (STM): the ReactorSTM. It consists of a compact STM scanner, of which the tip extends into a 0.5 ml reactor flow-cell, that is housed in a ultra-high vacuum (UHV) system. The STM can be operated from UHV to 6 bars and from room temperature up to 600 K. A gas mixing and analysis system optimized for fast response times allows us to directly correlate the surface structure observed by STM with reactivity measurements from a mass spectrometer. The in situ STM experiments can be combined with ex situ UHV sample preparation and analysis techniques, including ion bombardment, thin film deposition, low-energy electron diffraction and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The performance of the instrument is demonstrated by atomically resolved images of Au(111) and atom-row resolution on Pt(110), both under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions.
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