By chemically modifying the FeO(111) thin film on Pt(111), it was shown that it
was possible to unambiguously correlate its STM morphology with its underlying
structure without recourse to STM simulations. Partial reduction of the oxide
surface leads to the formation of triangularly-shaped oxygen vacancy dislocation
loops at specific sites in the moiré structure of the film. Their presence allows
unambiguous identification of the high-symmetry domains of the moiré structure,
whose differing chemical properties govern the templating effect on adsorbed
metal atoms, clusters and molecules.
Correlating STM Contrast and Atomic-Scale Structure by Chemical Modification:
Vacancy Dislocation Loops on FeO/Pt(111). L.R.Merte, J.Knudsen, L.C.Grabow,
R.T.Vang, E.Lægsgaard, M.Mavrikakis, F.Besenbacher: Surface Science, 2009,
603[2], L15-8