Metal oxide surfaces: Electronic structure and molecular adsorption

The surface science of oxides has received considerably less attention than the study of metal surfaces. We review some of our work on structural characterization and electronic structure investigations on oxide surfaces which we prepare as thin oxide films on metallic substrates. This preparation method leads to certain experimental advantages concerning the application of electron spectroscopies on such systems. We discuss molecular adsorption on non-polar and polar surfaces of clean oxides. The influence of metal deposition onto the oxide surfaces and on their properties with respect to adsorption is described. Light induced processes with full quantum state detection of desorbing molecules are addressed. The possibility of studying dynamic processes in adsorbates on oxides via electron spin resonance spectroscopy is evaluated.