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A scanning tunneling microscope study of single platinum atoms, platinum dimers and trimers on highly-oriented pyrolytic graphite

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Zeitschrift für Physik D Atoms, Molecules and Clusters

Abstract

We report a topographic study of platinum clusters on highly-oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) using a scanning tunneling microscope operating in air. The particles were produced by evaporation of platinum onto the graphite-surface in high vacuum. The simultaneous finding of single platinum atoms, clusters and small particles on an otherwise clean and atomically flat surface shows that the platinum-HOPG surface interaction is strong enough to yield stable images of Pt atoms and yet is not strong enough to annihilate the Pt-Pt interaction. Small flat platinum clusters on HOPG can be imaged with atomic resolution of the cluster and the surrounding graphite lattice. We show the adsorption site distribution for the monomers. The Pt-dimers show a very broad bond length distribution on graphite with an average of 2.46 Å. We found two types of Pt-trimers, one which is almost linear and one of triangular form. The average nearest neighbour distance of the trimers is 2.61 Å.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Hawaii at Manoa, 96822, Honolulu, HI, USA

    U. Müller, K. Sattler, J. Xhie, N. Venkateswaran & G. Raina

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  1. U. Müller
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  2. K. Sattler
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  3. J. Xhie
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  4. N. Venkateswaran
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  5. G. Raina
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Müller, U., Sattler, K., Xhie, J. et al. A scanning tunneling microscope study of single platinum atoms, platinum dimers and trimers on highly-oriented pyrolytic graphite. Z Phys D - Atoms, Molecules and Clusters 19, 319–321 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01448320

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01448320

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