Spin Correlation in O2 Chemisorption on Ni(111)

Mitsunori Kurahashi and Yasushi Yamauchi
Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 016101 – Published 9 January 2015
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Abstract

Molecular oxygen (O2) is a paramagnetic linear molecule, yet how its electron spin affects the chemisorption probability remains unclear. We here present the first spin- and alignment-resolved O2 chemisorption experiment conducted with a single spin-rotational state-selected O2 beam and a magnetized Ni(111) surface. The results show that the O2 sticking probability is higher when its spin is oriented antiparallel to the majority spin direction of the Ni substrate. The spin dependence becomes more significant at low translational energy, and amounts to over 40% at thermal energy. This strong spin effect suggests that incident O2 molecules keep high spin polarizations even at the position of the dissociation barrier.

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  • Received 22 October 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.016101

© 2015 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Mitsunori Kurahashi and Yasushi Yamauchi

  • National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047, Japan

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Vol. 114, Iss. 1 — 9 January 2015

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