Intrarow Adsorption Structure of Glycine on Ge(100)

Abstract

The adsorption structure of glycine on Ge(100) was investigated using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and high-resolution core-level photoemission spectroscopy (HRCLPES). We found a major adsorption feature of glycine on Ge(100) in the STM images. This feature appeared as a bright protrusion between two dimer rows with a dark adjacent dimer. The position of the bright protrusion located in the middle of the two dimer rows indicates a multibonding adsorption structure. The results of the theoretical calculations confirm that the adsorption structure of glycine on Ge(100) (between two possible multibonding adsorption structures) is an "intrarow O-H dissociated and N dative bonded structure". In the HRCLPES experiments, we found an N 1s peak (at 399.5 eV) and two 0 1s peaks (at 531.1 and 532.0 eV), which represent strong evidence that the adsorption configuration of glycine on Ge(100) is composed of both O-H dissociation and N dative bonding. All our STM, DFT, and HRCLPES results suggest that the adsorption structure of glycine molecules on Ge(100) is an "intrarow O-H dissociated and N dative bonded structure".