QSE induced oscillatory electric field on stepped Pb(111) film and its influence on surface reactivity

ORAL

Abstract

When the thickness of ultrathin metal films is comparable to the Fermi wavelength , significant effects on the structure stability and the electronic properties emerge due to electron confinement. Using first-principles calculations, we showed that quantum size effects (QSE) can induce oscillatory electrostatic potential and thus alternating electric field on the surface of wedge-shaped Pb(111) films. The alternating electric field has significant influence adatom diffusion, leading to selective even or odd layer nucleation preference depending on the charge state of the adatom. This QSE induced alternatively modulated electric field is confirmed in growth experiments with the odd-layer preference of Mg adsorption on wedge-shaped Pb/Si(111) films.

*This work was supported by the Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division of the US Department of Energy (USDOE), under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11358 with the US Department of Energy.

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Authors

  • Xiaojie Liu

    • State Key Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, Institute of Theoretical Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130021, P. R.
    • Beijing Computational Science Research Center, Beijing 100084, China

  • Cai-Zhuang Wang

    • Ames Lab
    • Ames Laboratory-U.S. Department of Energy, and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 50011, USA
    • Ames Laboratory, DOE \& Iowa State University
    • Iowa State University
    • Ames laboratory--US DOE and Iowa State University
    • Ames Laboratory
    • Ames Laboratory - U.S. Department of Energy, Iowa State University
    • Ames Lab, US DOE

  • Myron Hupalo

    • Ames Laboratory-U.S. Department of Energy, and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 50011, USA
    • Ames Laboratory - U.S. Department of Energy, Iowa State University

  • Hai-Qing Lin

    • Beijing Computational Science Research Center, Beijing, 100084, P.R. China
    • Beijing Computational Science Research Center
    • Beijing Computational Science Research Center, Beijing 100084, China

  • Kai-Ming Ho

    • Ames Lab
    • Ames Laboratory-U.S. Department of Energy, and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 50011, USA
    • Ames Laboratory, DOE \& Iowa State University
    • Iowa State University
    • Ames Laboratory
    • Ames Laboratory - U.S. Department of Energy, Iowa State University

  • Michael Tringides

    • Ames Laboratory-U.S. Department of Energy, and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 50011, USA
    • Ames Laboratory - U.S. Department of Energy, Iowa State University