Determination of binding sites in ordered phases of CO/Cu(211) employing molecular level manipulation

We have used molecular level manipulation with a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope to determine the binding site of CO molecules in the ordered 3×1 phase of CO/Cu(211). With the help of a molecular manipulation technique, short CO chains and domains with 3×1 periodicity could be formed in a molecule-by-molecule way and investigated at 12 K. The experiments show that the CO molecules always occupy on-top sites at the intrinsic step edges of the Cu(211) surface. One can extrapolate from these experiments directly on the binding sites in the ordered phases of CO on this surface.