Scanning tunneling microscopy study of an altered Fe3O 4(001) thin films surface by hydrogen adsorption

Abstract

We report on changes of surface structures induced by hydrogen adsorption on a Jahn-Teller distorted magnetite (Fe3O4)(001) surface and priorities of hydrogen-adsorbed sites by means of in-situ scanning tunneling microscopy. The experiments have revealed that surface Fe cations relax toward the bulk-terminated positions by OH species formed between adsorbed-hydrogen and surface ON anion (The labeled "N"in ON denotes that the O-O distance in the surface is compressed compared with bulk). Moreover, two types of surface ON sites were found to be almost equivalent for hydrogen adsorption. © 2014 The Surface Science Society of Japan.