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Single gold-carbonyl species adsorbed on a FeO thin film on Pt(111) exhibit a pronounced zero-bias conductance anomaly in scanning tunneling spectroscopy, while bare Au atoms reveal a smooth conductance behavior. The phenomenon is attributed to the Kondo effect, which seems to be triggered by AuCO attachment to the oxide surface but originates in fact from the interplay between the Fe magnetic moments and the Pt conduction electrons. This interpretation is supported by the observation of a similar conductance anomaly even for the pristine oxide film under certain circumstances. Apparently, the FeO/Pt(111) system is intrinsically susceptible to a Kondo-type behavior, which needs however to be initiated by a small, e.g., adsorbate-induced modification of its magnetic structure. The role of the AuCO in triggering the effect is explored by analyzing the geometric and electronic properties of the ad-complex on the FeO thin film via tunneling spectroscopy and density-functional theory. © 2009 The American Physical Society.

We present a combined experimental (STM/scanning tunneling spectroscopy) and theoretical (density functional theory) study on the deposition of Au and Pd metal atoms on FeO/Pt(111) ultrathin films. We show that while the Pd atoms are only slightly oxidized, the Au atoms form positive ions upon deposition, at variance to a charge transfer into the Au atoms as observed for MgO/Ag(100). The modulation of the adsorption properties within the surface Moiré cell and the charging induce the formation a self-assembled array of gold adatoms on FeO/Pt(111), whereas Pd atoms are randomly distributed.

We have investigated the magnetic and electronic properties of a FeO film grown on Pt(111). Coupling first-principles density-functional theory calculations with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) measurements we have identified the principal mechanisms for the structural and electronic characteristics observed in the Moire unit cell formed between oxide film and metal support. We show that both free and supported FeO(111) monolayers present an antiparallel alignment of the magnetic moments. Due to the lattice mismatch between Pt(111) and the FeO film, the interface properties are different in different regions of the supercell. The resulting modulation of the structural and electronic properties of the film is determined by the strength of the film-substrate interaction in various regions of the supercell. In particular, for the Fe-top site, where this interaction is weak, there is a small rumpling of the FeO layer which increases the interface separation. In correspondence of this structural modification, we observe a change in the work function, coherent with the most recent experimental findings. Our results show that a good agreement with the experimental interpretation of the work function modulation and of the STM images can be obtained only within the more robust, nonpseudomorphic computational models.

The electronic structure around the Fermi energy of a thin film of iron monoxide on Pt(111) is studied using low temperature scanning tunneling spectroscopy. The surface exhibits a coincidence structure (Moire pattern) due to a lattice mismatch between the oxide thin film and the metal substrate. While the local density of states around the Fermienergy is featureless at most positions in the unit cell, a pronounced depression is observed at one particular site. The origin of this local zero-bias anomaly is discussed in relation to results from first-principle calculations. As a preliminary conclusion, it is suggested that the anomaly is a Kondo resonance due to a frustrated antiferromagnetic layer.