Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Giordano, Livia
• Di Valentin, Cristiana
• Goniakowski, Jacek
• Pacchioni, Gianfranco

Titel

Nucleation of Pd dimers at defect sites of the MgO(100) surface

Ist Teil von

• Physical review letters, 2004-03, Vol.92 (9), p.096105-096105, Article 096105

Ort / Verlag

United States: American Physical Society

Erscheinungsjahr

2004

Quelle

American Physical Society [PROLA]

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Point defects on oxide surfaces are presumed to be preferential nucleation sites for supported metal clusters. Under typical growth conditions, dimers constitute the first step in island nucleation. First-principles calculations on the formation of Pd dimers on regular and defect sites of the MgO(100) surface show that nucleation occurs with large dimer binding energies at divacancies and charged oxygen vacancies (F+ centers), while it is less favorable on steps and neutral F centers. The extensive database of defect trapping/attachment properties gives a firm basis to rationalize recent atomic-force microscopy findings and provides guidelines valid, in general, for ionic substrates.