Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
Science. 2021 Feb 19;371(6531):818-822. doi: 10.1126/science.abd1827.
The structure determination of surface species has long been a challenge because of their rich chemical heterogeneities. Modern tip-based microscopic techniques can resolve heterogeneities from their distinct electronic, geometric, and vibrational properties at the single-molecule level but with limited interpretation from each. Here, we combined scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), noncontact atomic force microscopy (AFM), and tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) to characterize an assumed inactive system, pentacene on the Ag(110) surface. This enabled us to unambiguously correlate the structural and chemical heterogeneities of three pentacene-derivative species through specific carbon-hydrogen bond breaking. The joint STM-AFM-TERS strategy provides a comprehensive solution for determining chemical structures that are widely present in surface catalysis, on-surface synthesis, and two-dimensional materials.
表面物种结构的确定一直是一个挑战，因为它们具有丰富的化学不均匀性。现代基于尖端的显微技术可以在单分子水平上解析出具有不同电子、几何和振动特性的不均匀性，但每种技术的解释都有限。在这里，我们结合扫描隧道显微镜（STM）、非接触原子力显微镜（AFM）和尖端增强拉曼散射（TERS）来表征一个假定的非活性体系，即 pentacene 在 Ag(110)表面上。这使我们能够通过特定的碳氢键断裂，明确关联三种 pentacene 衍生物物种的结构和化学不均匀性。STM-AFM-TERS 联合策略为确定表面催化、表面合成和二维材料中广泛存在的化学结构提供了一种全面的解决方案。
