Evidence for the association of triatomic molecules in ultracold 23Na40K + 40K mixtures.

Ultracold assembly of diatomic molecules has enabled great advances in controlled chemistry, ultracold chemical physics and quantum simulation with molecules1-3. Extending the ultracold association to triatomic molecules will offer many new research opportunities and challenges in these fields. A possible approach is to form triatomic molecules in a mixture of ultracold atoms and diatomic molecules by using a Feshbach resonance between them4,5. Although ultracold atom-diatomic-molecule Feshbach resonances have been observed recently6,7, using these resonances to form triatomic molecules remains challenging. Here we report on evidence of the association of triatomic molecules near the Feshbach resonance between 23Na40K molecules in the rovibrational ground state and 40K atoms. We apply a radio-frequency pulse to drive the free-bound transition in ultracold mixtures of 23Na40K and 40K and monitor the loss of 23Na40K molecules. The association of triatomic molecules manifests itself as an additional loss feature in the radio-frequency spectra, which can be distinguished from the atomic loss feature. The observation that the distance between the association feature and the atomic transition changes with the magnetic field provides strong evidence for the formation of triatomic molecules. The binding energy of the triatomic molecules is estimated from the measurements. Our work contributes to the understanding of the complex ultracold atom-molecule Feshbach resonances and may open up an avenue towards the preparation and control of ultracold triatomic molecules.

Ni-Pt multilayered nanowire arrays with enhanced coercivity and high remanence ratio.

Highly ordered Ni-Pt multilayered nanowire arrays have been fabricated using a porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template by pulse electrodeposition. The cylindrical Ni nanoparticles with different lengths and diameters in these arrays were characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and alternating-gradient magnetometer (AGM) measurements. Magnetization measurements revealed that an array of such nanowires with 20-nm diameters has an enhanced coercivity (ca. 1169 Oe) and a high remanence ratio (ca. 0.96).

Mesoscopic self-organization of a self-assembled supramolecular rectangle on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite and Au(111) surfaces.

A self-assembled supramolecular metallacyclic rectangle was investigated with scanning tunneling microscopy on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite and Au(111) surfaces. The rectangles spontaneously adsorb on both surfaces and self-organize into well ordered adlayers. On highly oriented pyrolytic graphite, the long edge of the rectangle stands on the surface, forming a 2D molecular network. In contrast, the face of the rectangle lays flat on the Au(111) surface, forming linear chains. The structures and intramolecular features obtained through high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy imaging are discussed.

Direct evidence of molecular aggregation and degradation mechanism of organic light-emitting diodes under joule heating: an STM and photoluminescence study.

The Joule heating effect on electroluminescent efficiency is important in the degradation origin of organic light-emitting diodes (OLED). Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements were performed on the guest molecule BT (1,4-bis(benzothiazole-vinyl) benzene), host molecule TPBI (2, 2',2' '-(1,3,5-phenylene)tris-[1-phenyl-1H-benzimidazole]), and their mixture deposited on an HOPG surface to study the OLED degradation mechanism due to thermal heating. At room temperature, BT and TPBI in the mixed layer show good compatibility and high PL intensity, but at higher temperatures, they show phase separation and aggregation into their own domains and a concomitant decrease in PL intensity. The PL intensity loss suggests ineffective energy transfer from TPBI to BT due to phase separation, which may cause OLED degradation. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) results show that the band gaps of TPBI and BT remain unchanged with the annealing temperature, suggesting that the heat-induced decay of OLED is related to the interfacial structural change rather than the respective molecular band gap. The results provide direct evidence showing how the molecular structures of the mixed layer vary and affect the PL intensity due to temperature.

Gold hollow nanospheres: tunable surface plasmon resonance controlled by interior-cavity sizes.

Uniform gold hollow nanospheres with tunable interior-cavity sizes were fabricated by using Co nanoparticles as sacrificial templates and varying the stoichiometric ratio of starting material HAuCl4 over the reductants. The formation of these hollow nanostructures is attributed to two subsequent reduction reactions: the initial reduction of HAuCl4 by Co nanoparticles, followed by the reduction by NaBH4. In addition, a thick layer of silica was successfully coated onto the gold hollow nanospheres. These nanostructures are extensively characterized by TEM, XRD, HRTEM, SEM, electron diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, and UV-visible absorption spectroscopy. It is evident that the SPR peak locations corresponding to these hollow nanospheres are shifted over a region of more than 100 nm wavelength due to changes of shell thickness, which make these optically active nanostructures of great interest in both fundamental research and practical applications.

Electrochemical scanning tunneling microscope imaging of self-assembled monolayer of double-stranded DNA on Au(111).

Self-assembled monolayer of a double-stranded DNA, which was formed by a 20-nt 5'-thiol-modified oligonucleotide at the interface of Au(111)/solution, has been imaged and studied with electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (ECSTM). The results showed that the preferred directions of the adsorbed DNA were <110> and <112>. The measured width of the DNA stripes was 0.95 +/- 0.02 nm, which was consistent with the width of dsDNA base pairs. The contour of DNA in the STM image consisted of a series of blobs, which were due to the anchoring of the bases to the substrate along the dsDNA chain. The imaging of a large-scale array of DNA lying flat on the substrate offers a convenient method for the further application of high-resolution STM to the study of the interaction between DNA and a variety of molecules.

Adsorption and coordination of tartaric acid enantiomers on Cu(111) in aqueous solution.

Chiral modifiers have gained much attention because they can induce high enantioselectivity on reactive metal surface in heterogeneous enantioselective catalysis. The high enantioselectivity is attributed to that the chirality of modifiers is bestowed onto the metal surface upon adsorption. Much study on the adsorption of modifiers on metal surface has been performed in an ultrahigh vacuum. In this paper, the adsorption of tartaric acid on Cu(111) has been studied by electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) in aqueous solution. It is found that (R,R)-tartaric acid and (S,S)-tartaric acid can form a well-ordered adlayer on the Cu(111) surface with a (4 x 4) symmetry. A dimeric structure is proposed in the temporary model from STM observation.

Controllable AuPt bimetallic hollow nanostructures.

We describe a facile procedure for one step, large-scale synthesis of AuPt bimetallic hollow tube-like 1-D nanomaterials and hollow nanospheres, which can be easily manipulated by merely changing the concentration of citric acid.

Absolute configuration of monodentate phosphine ligand enantiomers on Cu(111).

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) has been employed to investigate the chirality of monophosphine compounds that are highly efficient chiral ligands in transition-metal-catalyzed organic transformations. The absolute configuration of 1-(2-diphenyphosphino-1-naphthyl)isoquinoline enantiomers with axial chirality was discriminated directly by the "marker" group, PPh(2) substitutes. Although the two enantiomer molecules adsorb on a Cu(111) surface and form well-defined (4 x 4) structures, the positions of PPh(2) substitutes in the molecular adlayers are different. The mirror symmetry between two adlayers is demonstrated. On the basis of STM results, structural models are proposed to interpret the chiral adsorption. The results presented here supply a straightforward method for axial chirality analysis in adsorbed adlayers by STM.

Direct STM investigation of cinchona alkaloid adsorption on Cu(III).

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) combined with cyclic voltammetry has been employed to investigate the adsorption of cinchonine on Cu(111). Similar to cinchonidine, cinchonine forms a long-range ordered adlayer with (4 x 4) symmetry on the substrate. The structural details on molecular adsorption were obtained by high-resolution STM images. On the basis of the previous results and obtained STM images, the quinoline ring is proposed to lie parallel to Cu(111) and serve as an anchoring group. The chiral quinuclidine moiety extends out of the surface to facilitate the interaction with the prochiral reactants.

Electronic characteristics of Au-mercaptohexadecanoic acid-Au junction in a capillary.

The electrical property of a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of mercaptohexadecanoic acid (HS-C15H30-COOH) has been investigated with a tunneling junction confined in a capillary. This capillary method can shun the interference of vacuum gap. The contact area can be determined according to the diameter of capillary. The nonlinear current-voltage curve and dl/dV curve are measured in the potential range of +/-0.8 V. The slight asymmetry of I-V curve and dl/dV curve is attributed to the different coupling between the metal and the end-groups of molecule. This method will supply a simple way to measure the property of single molecules and monolayers.

Tuning molecular orientation with STM at the solid/liquid interface.

Triptycene molecular orientation has been tuned with a STM tip at a Cu(111) surface in solution from flat, to tilt, to vertical. The tuning is completely bias dependent and reversible. The study is important in the fields of nanoscience and technology.

Novel electrocatalytic activity in layered Ni-Cu nanowire arrays.

By using template synthesis method, well-defined composite Ni-Cu nanowire electrode arrays (CNNEAs) were prepared. Homogeneous nanoparticles of Ni in CNNEAs show extraordinary high catalytic activity, which was discussed in terms of the size effect of Ni nanoparticles.

Adsorption mode of cinchonidine on Cu(111) surface.

The adsorption mode of cinchonidine on Cu(111) was directly obtained by in situ STM. The molecules were found to adsorb on the substrate surface and form a long-range ordered adlayer with (4 x 4) symmetry. While the quinoline rings lie parallel to Cu(111), the chiral quinuclidine moiety extends out of the surface. The enantioselectivity of catalysts may relate to this special adsorption conformation of cinchonidine on the surface.