Ab-Initio Simulation Laboratory

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We invert high-energy (E greater-than-or-equal-to 400 eV) photoelectron and Auger-electron interference patterns to construct 3D images of surface and interface atoms. A new scheme is introduced to correct the phase shift of the image. Image reconstruction is demonstrated for Si(111) square-root 3 x square-root 3-B, a system in which multiple-scattering effects are small and all source waves are equivalent. Using diffraction results from multiple-scattering slab calculations, we achieve a spatial resolution of 1.0-1.3 angstrom, thus qualifying the technique as a direct structural tool.

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Photoelectron-diffraction studies of Nb(001) have been performed to determine the first-interlayer contraction using Mg K alpha radiation (h nu = 1253.6 eV) as an excitation source. Photoemission intensities of the 3d(5/2) core level were measured as a function of the polar angle along several azimuths on the single-crystal surface. The 202.3-eV (205.0-eV) binding energy for the 3d(5/2) (3d(3/2)) core level was well resolved in the photoemission spectra, where the peak intensity could be easily evaluated by curve-fitting processes. Large oscillations of the 3d(5/2) intensity as a function of the polar angle due to forward-focusing were observed. Based on multiple-scattering calculations for several first-interlayer spacings ranging from the bulk value to 16% contraction, the best agreement with experiment was obtained for a (13 +/- 5)% contraction of the first-interlayer spacing.

We report calculations of the dissociative adsorption of H-2 at Pd (100) covered with 1/4 monolayer of sulfur using quantum dynamics as well as molecular dynamics and taking all six degrees of freedom of the two H atoms fully into account. The ab-initio potential-energy surface (PES) is found to be very strongly corrugated. In particular, we discuss the influence of tunneling, zero-point vibrations due to the localization of the wave function of the nuclei when narrow valleys of the PES are passed, steering of the approaching H-2 molecules towards low-energy barrier configurations, and the important role of subsurface absorbates for the hydrogen dissociation. It is shown that "established" concepts derived from low-dimensional dynamical studies are not necessarily valid in a high-dimensional treatment. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The clean-off reaction of AgO added rows by CO on Ag(110) and Au/Ag(110) bimetallic surfaces was studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and compared with density functional theory (DFT). This combined study of a model system illustrated the complexity of catalytic enhancement in bimetallic systems. By analyzing in situ time-lapsed STM image series, we found that CO oxidation on a Au-enriched Ag(110) surface leads to an exponential depletion of oxygen with time and a reaction rate that is synergistically enhanced by the presence of Au. First principles calculations indicate that the local atomic configuration around the active reaction sites at the chain ends and the preference of An atom substitution into the subsurface second Ag layer are of critical importance. By calculating CO adsorption energies and reaction barriers for plausible reaction pathways, a detailed description of the CO oxidation reaction emerges, For the optimal reaction pathway, a large (similar to 0.09 eV) barrier reduction and a small barrier of similar to 0.01 eV were found for the Eley-Rideal (ER) mechanism. In contrast, a small (similar to 0.03 eV) barrier reduction and a moderate barrier of similar to 0.23 eV were obtained for the Langmuir-Hinshelwood (LH) mechanism. The ER transitional state was also found to be lower in energy. We conclude that, irrespective of whether the ER mechanism is actually rate dominating, it is definitively enhanced.