Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Determination of Single Nanocrystal Core Sizes via Correlation with Mass Spectrometry

T. P. Bigioni, T. G. Schaaff, R. B. Wyrwas, L. E. Harrell, R. L. Whetten, P. N. First

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

We show that single alkanethiol-passivated gold nanocrystals can be identified by core size in scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) experiments, through a comparison of the measured STM heights with a direct determination of the gold core sizes by mass spectrometry. We take advantage of the discrete size distribution to correlate the peaks in a histogram of nanocrystal heights with the distinct abundance peaks in a mass spectrum. The correlation establishes a mapping from STM height to core mass or mean core diameter. This is vitally important for the interpretation of size-dependent "single-molecule" tunneling spectra from nanocrystal compounds.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3772-3776
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Physical Chemistry B
Volume108
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 25 2004
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
  • Surfaces, Coatings and Films
  • Materials Chemistry

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Determination of Single Nanocrystal Core Sizes via Correlation with Mass Spectrometry'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this