Adsorption and growth of benzene on Ag(1 1 0)

The low temperature adsorption of benzene on Ag(1 1 0) has been studied by means of scanning tunneling microscopy and vibrational scanning tunneling spectroscopy. Two adsorption states were found with very different growth, stability, and vibrational fingerprints. Vibrational characterization resolves small shifts in the positions of some of the peaks when the species were in an ordered layer. On some adsorption sites with reduced symmetry, the vibrational spectra show additional modes. Their observation is attributed to a distortion of the geometry of the adsorbed species.