HREELS AND RAIRS - A COMPLETE VIBRATIONAL STUDY OF THE SURFACE BENZOATE SPECIES ADSORBED ON COPPER

Despite major instrumental advances in both high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS) and reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS), it is still advantageous to use both techniques to gain a more complete understanding of the vibrational properties of molecules adsorbed at surfaces. The strengths and limitations, even with state of the art techniques, are illustrated with an analysis of results for the surface benzoate species (C6H5CO2) chemisorbed on Cu(110) and Cu(100) surfaces. In particular, these are demonstrated with regard to understanding the bonding and orientation of the molecular species at the surface and the importance of spectral resolution, spectral range, excitation mechanism and signal-to-background ratio.