Exploring the core level shift origin of sulfur and thiolates on Pd(111) surfaces.

Thiol molecules on planar metal surfaces are widely used for building sensing and electronic devices and also as capping agents to protect and to control the size and shape of nanoparticles. In the case of Pd the thiol molecules exhibit a complex behavior because C-S bond scission is possible, resulting in a significant amount of co-adsorbed S. Therefore identification of these species on Pd is a key point for many applications, a task that is usually achieved by XPS.

Spontaneous nanoripple formation on metallic templates.

Nanoripple structures spontaneously formed at room temperature during chemical and electrochemical deposition of metals, semiconductors, and alloys on gold and copper templates, patterned with nanocavities, have been studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Annealing the templates at approximately equal to 373 K also results in ripple formation. Both experimental results and modeling, including anisotropic surface diffusion, demonstrate that nanocavity size in the template determines the ripple wavelength and amplitude, prior to a final stage of coarsening.