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 t unneling microscope to determine the binding site of CO molecules in the or dered 3 X 1 phase of CO/Cu(211). With the help of a molecular manipulation technique, short CO chains and domains with 3 X 1 periodicity could be form ed 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 d irectly on the binding sites in the ordered phases of CO on this surface. ( C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.