Postdeposition treatment of IBS coatings for UV applications with optimized thin-film stress properties.

Ion-beam-sputtering (IBS) single-layer and multilayer coating designs for UV applications were examined after the deposition process as well as after a defined postdeposition treatment. High internal compressive film stress as well as moderate absorption losses in the UV spectral range were measured at the as-deposited thin films. Due to a controlled postdeposition treatment process, the absorption losses and the high compressive stress can be reduced significantly. We show that the remaining thin-film stress of SiO2 and HfO2 multilayer designs can be specifically manipulated by the parameters of the postdeposition treatment. Even zero and tensile stress can be achieved for complex multilayer coatings.

Effect of surface chemistry on the stability of gold nanostructures.

Understanding the role of surface chemistry in the stability of nanostructured noble-metal materials is important for many technological applications but experimentally difficult to access and thus little understood. To develop a fundamental understanding of the effect of surface chemistry on both the formation and stabilization of self-organized gold nanostructures, we performed a series of controlled-environment annealing experiments on nanoporous gold (np-Au) and ion-bombarded Au(111) single-crystal surfaces. The annealing experiments on np-Au in ambient ozone were carried out to study the effect of adsorbed oxygen under dynamic conditions, whereas the ion-bombarded Au single-crystal surfaces were used as a model system to obtain atomic-scale information. Our results show that adsorbed oxygen stabilizes nanoscale gold structures at low temperatures whereas oxygen-induced mobilization of Au surface atoms seems to accelerate the coarsening under dynamic equilibrium conditions at higher temperatures.

UHV studies of methanol decomposition on mono- and bimetallic CoPd nanoparticles supported on thin alumina films.

Bimetallic nanoparticles often turn out to be superior to the corresponding monometallic systems with respect to their catalytic properties. To study such effects for the methanol decomposition reaction, model catalysts were prepared by physical vapor deposition of Pd and Co under ultrahigh-vacuum (UHV) conditions. Monometallic Pd and Co particles as well as CoPd core-shell particles were generated on an epitaxial alumina film grown on NiAl(110). The interaction with methanol is examined by temperature-programmed desorption of methanol and carbon monoxide and by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The decomposition of methanol proceeds in two reaction pathways independent of the particle composition: complete dehydrogenation towards carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and C--O bond scission yielding carbon deposits. Pd is the most active material studied here. The relative importance of the two channels varies for the different particle systems: on Pd dehydrogenation is preferred, whereas the C--O bond cleavage is more pronounced on Co. The bimetallic clusters show a moderate performance for both pathways. Carbon deposition poisons the model catalysts by blocking the adsorption sites for methoxide, which is the first intermediate product during methanol decomposition. In particular on Co, large amounts of carbon deposits can also be caused by dissociation of the final product of the dehydrogenation pathway, carbon monoxide. A comparison with the results of methanol decomposition on Co, Pd, and CoPd catalysts in continuous-flow reactors demonstrates that the findings of the present UHV study are relevant for catalytic performance under high-pressure conditions.