Synthesis and structure of Al clusters supported on TiO2(110): A scanning tunneling microscopy study

Abstract

Al clusters supported on ${\mathrm{TiO}}_{\mathrm{2}}\text{(110)}$ have been investigated using scanning tunneling microscopy. Al interacts strongly with the ${\mathrm{TiO}}_{\mathrm{2}}\text{(110)}$ surface at room temperature and becomes oxidized by abstracting oxygen from the interface region of the substrate. Highly oxidized Al clusters were found to disorder the ${\mathrm{TiO}}_{\mathrm{2}}$ substrate in the low coverage regime (0.05 ML) illustrating that Al exhibits a strong chemical interaction with the oxide substrate. Distinct changes in the ${\mathrm{TiO}}_{\mathrm{2}}\text{(110)}$ substrate from a “row” structure to a “net” structure due to Al interacting with oxygen in the topmost layer of the substrate are also observed.