McGill.CA / Science / Department of Physics

Physical Society Colloquium

Reaction Dynamics a Molecule at a Time;
Thermal, Photo-induced and Electron-induced Reaction
of Adsorbates on Si, by STM

J. Polanyi

Department of Chemistry
University of Toronto

Heat, light and low-energy electrons have been used to induce reactions between sub-monolayers of halides and Si(111)77 or Si(100)21 substrates. The reaction dynamics were inferred from the alteration in the STM images of the individual molecules, due to the stimulus. Reagents were benzene, halobenzene, and multiply halogenated benzenes. The molecules were observed to desorb, diffuse to new sites, change their state of attachment, or undergo fragmentation accompanied by localised reaction with the substrate. These findings have been examined by ab initio calculations, also reported.

The experiments were performed by Duncan Rogers, Harikumar Rajamma and Nan Li, and the theory by Guo-Ping Jiang and Fedor Y. Naumkin, all at the University of Toronto.

Friday, October 18th 2002, 15:30
Ernest Rutherford Physics Building, Keys Auditorium (room 112)