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Visualizing Progressive Atomic Change in the Metal Surface Structure Made by Ultrafast Electronic Interactions in an Ambient Environment
Author(s) -
Aso Ryotaro,
Ogawa Yohei,
Tamaoka Takehiro,
Yoshida Hideto,
Takeda Seiji
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201907679
Subject(s) - ultrashort pulse , metal , materials science , surface (topology) , chemical physics , nanotechnology , metallurgy , chemistry , physics , optics , geometry , laser , mathematics
Understanding the atomic and molecular phenomena occurring in working catalysts and nanodevices requires the elucidation of atomic migration originating from electronic excitations. The progressive atomic dynamics on metal surface under controlled electronic stimulus in real time, space, and gas environments are visualized for the first time. By in situ environmental transmission electron microscopy, the gas molecules introduced into the biased metal nanogap could be activated by electron tunneling and caused the unpredicted atomic dynamics. The typically inactive gold was oxidized locally on the positive tip and field‐evaporated to the negative tip, resulting in the atomic reconstruction on the negative tip surface. This finding of a tunneling‐electron‐attached‐gas process will bring new insights into the design of nanostructures such as nanoparticle catalysts and quantum nanodots and will stimulate syntheses of novel nanomaterials not seen in the ambient environment.