Epitaxial Electrodeposition of Fe on Au(111): Structure, Nucleation, and Growth Mechanisms

Abstract

Iron epitaxial electrodeposition on Au(111) substrates is investigated using in situ scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and ex situ X-ray diffraction (XRD). STM observations show that Fe grows quasi layer-by-layer at sufficiently negative potentials. XRD results indicate that Fe layers thicker than 3 ML are bcc and present the epitaxial relationship Fe(110) [1−10]||Au(111) [11−2]. They also show that the Fe lattice is uniaxially in-plane strained along Fe[1−10] and that the strain is progressively relieved with increasing layer thickness. The growth of Fe on a Ni layer deposited on Au(111) leads to strain free Fe layers with the same epitaxial relationship. The specific shape of Fe of monatomic islands suggests that the first Fe monolayer deposited on Au(111) presents a centered rectangular lattice similar to that of bcc Fe(110) but is stretched along Fe[1−10] by more than 8%.

Equilibrium shape of core(Fe)–shell(Au) nanoparticles as a function of the metals volume ratio

“…This orientation reduces the effective misfit to 0.6% (the lattice constant of bcc Fe and fcc Au being 0.28665 nm and 0.40784 nm respectively [12]) leading to a pseudomorphic growth of Au on Fe, without dislocations. For the {111}Au/{110}Fe interface, both theoretical [13] and experimental [14] results agree for the so-called Nishiyama-Wasserman relationship [13] described in Fig. 1(c).…”

Role of the shell thickness in the core transformation of magnetic core(Fe)-shell(Au) nanoparticles

“…4 right. It was recently confirmed in Fe films grown on {111} Au [24]. It should be noted that this orientation relationship leads to an anisotropic lattice misfit [25].…”

Controlled‐Atmosphere Flame Fusion Single‐Crystal Growth of Non‐Noble fcc, hcp, and bcc Metals Using Copper, Cobalt, and Iron

“…Furthermore, research pertaining to iron and its alloys has been centrally focused around corrosion since the 1930s . In recent years, it has become an increasingly important metal for catalysis and the use in data‐storage devices …”

“…Non-noble transition metals are widely used in avariety of fields,s uch as (electro-)catalysis,f uel-cell development, electrode materials for battery systems,e lectronic devices, and corrosion science,j ust to name af ew. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] Fori nstance, copper is known as one of the most active electrode materials in catalysis for nitrogen and carbon oxides, [1,2,10,11] while cobalt is mainly used in combination with its oxides for the production of new electrode and nanostructured materials in the fields of electrocatalysis,e nergy storage,a nd material science. [3][4][5][6]12] Furthermore,research pertaining to iron and its alloys has been centrally focused around corrosion since the 1930s.…”

“…[13] In recent years,i th as become an increasingly important metal for catalysis and the use in data-storage devices. [7,9,14] While there has been considerable research involving polycrystalline Cu, Co,a nd Fe,l ittle research has been conducted on monocrystalline materials of these three metals. This is,inpart, due to the high cost of commercially available Cu, Co,a nd Fe single crystals,a st he methods required to grow these single crystals rely entirely on expensive ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) techniques.This is further complicated by the difficulty of working with oxygen-sensitive metallic crystals, where undesired oxidation or corrosion can occur when they are in contact with air or electrolytes,w hich damages the expensive single crystals.However,the implementation of the controlled-atmosphere flame fusion (CAFF) method (which was previously demonstrated for Ni)h as made growing inhouse non-noble-metal single crystals less expensive and without the need for complex UHV techniques.…”