SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPIC INVESTIGATION OF K-X(H2O)(Y)MOS2

The intercalation compound K-x(H2O)(y)MoS2 has been investigated by me ans of scanning tunneling microscopy. Ln contrast to 2H-MoS2, every Mo center in this compound is octahedrally surrounded by six sulfur liga nds, whereas the hydrated K+ cations are located in the van der Waals gap between the layers. Analysis of the STM data showed that the surfa ce structure within the (a,b) plane of K-x(H2O)(y)MoS2 is composed of parallel rows of sulfur atoms which are formed by sulfur ligands locat ed at axial positions in the [MoS6] octahedra. Due to the distortion w ithin the octahedra a wavy surface structure with an (axa root 3) supe rstructure is formed.