Mobility and bonding transition of C60 on Pd(110) -: art. no. 161403

Mobility and bonding of C-60 on a Pd(110) surface were characterized by variable temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. Following adsorption at intermediate temperatures (435-485 K) the motion of single molecules could be directly monitored, and the corresponding tracer diffusion barrier was determined to be (1.4 +/-0.2) eV, Upon annealing to approximate to 700 K the molecules undergo an irreversible bonding transition resulting in a second, more strongly bound C-60 Species With different imaging characteristics. This is attributed to a local surface reconstruction where C-60 sinks into the formed microscopic pits. The findings demonstrate that substrate restructuring may account for the coexistence of distinct C-60 species at surfaces.