Dresden 2026 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 4: Metal & Semiconductor substrates: Adsorption and reaction of small molecules I

O 4.6: Vortrag

Montag, 9. März 2026, 11:45–12:00, HSZ/0401

Bonding properties of a CO molecule with metallic adatoms — •Fabian Stilp, Marco Weiss, Mia Fuerst, Maximilian Krueger, Luis Vendolsky, Nicolas Wirth, Hendrik Weinert, and Franz J. Giessibl — Department of Physics, University of Regensburg, Germany

CO terminated AFM tips are often used to investigate molecules on surfaces as they are a powerful tool to make the internal structure of such molecules visible. Their chemical inertness results in high resolution of the single atoms and bonds in such molecule via Pauli repulsion. However, it was shown by Huber et al. [1] that CO terminated tips can form weak bonds to some species of adatoms on a Cu (111) sample such as Fe and Cu. In contrast, Si adatoms only interact via van der Waals attraction and Pauli repulsion.

Can one predict the strength of the bond between the CO molecule and an arbitrary atom just from its electron configuration? To set the rules for this prediction we expand our collection of AFM measurements with various atomic species.

In total the interaction between the CO molecule and the adatom shows up to five different regimes, two attractive and three repulsive. The forces are distinctly pronounced, which allows to group the atoms in four different types.

We analyze the different atomic species for their different barrier before forming the bond, directionality of the bond and electrostatic interactions.

[1] Huber et al., Science 366, 235-238 (2019).

Keywords: atomic force microscopy; CO; chemical bond; vdW force