AVS 49th International Symposium
    Surface Science Monday Sessions
       Session SS1-MoM

Paper SS1-MoM10
Towards Epitaxial Growth of Chiral Metal Films on Metal Oxide Substrates

Monday, November 4, 2002, 11:20 am, Room C-108

Session: Adsorption and Chirality
Presenter: D.S. Sholl, Carnegie Mellon University
Authors: D.S. Sholl, Carnegie Mellon University
A. Asthagiri, Carnegie Mellon University
A.J. Francis, Carnegie Mellon University
C. Niederberger, Carnegie Mellon University
L.M. Porter, Carnegie Mellon University
P. Salvador, Carnegie Mellon University
Correspondent: Click to Email
Although intrinsically chiral metal surfaces have been demonstrated to have intriguing enantiospecific adsorption and electrochemical properties, current studies of these materials are performed using small single-crystal samples. To move towards practical applications of these surfaces, techniques for substantially increasing the surface area of these chiral films need to be developed. One avenue towards this goal is the controlled growth of thin metal films on suitable chiral metal oxide substrates. We will report theoretical and experimental results for the growth of Pt films on SrTiO@sub 3@ substrates. This metal/metal-oxide pair was chosen because of the catalytic properties of Pt, the close lattice match between Pt and SrTiO@sub 3@, and the availability of SrTiO@sub 3@ as single crystal substrates. To control metal film growth on stepped metal oxide substrates it is necessary to understand the growth modes on the relevant atomically flat surfaces. We have studied Pt deposition on the non-polar SrTiO@sub 3@(100) surface and the polar SrTiO@sub 3@(111) surfaces using various experimental probes and ab initio Density Functional Theory. Our results identify the preferred binding geometries and film orientations of Pt films on these substrates. X-ray diffraction and low energy electron diffraction confirmed epitaxial growth of the Pt films, with the number of in-plane orientations dependent on both the substrate temperature and the nature of the substrate surface. We are currently extending our studies to the deposition of Pt on intrinsically chiral SrTiO@sub 3@ substrates and will discuss the prospects for creating robust chiral metal films with this process.