Manipulation and patterning of the surface hydrogen concentration on Pd(111) by electric fields

Abstract

(Figure Presented) Paint with a field, not a brush: An electric field created by the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope (see picture, left) is used to control the diffusion of hydrogen on and into a palladium surface, creating distinctive patterns. The resulting STM image (see picture, right) shows a triangular region of reduced hydrogen concentration surrounded by white features due to subsurface hydrogen. © 2007 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.