Atomic structure of a thin silica film on a Mo(112) substrate: A combined experimental and theoretical study

The atomic structure of the thin SiO2 film on a Mo(112) substrate has been determined based on a combination of density functional theory calculations and high-quality experimental data obtained from scanning tunneling microscopy, infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The film consists of a honeycomblike, two-dimensional network of corner-sharing [SiO4] tetrahedra. One oxygen atom of each tetrahedron binds to the Mo(112) substrate and is located in a bridge position between Mo atoms located in rows protruding from the metal surface. The other three oxygen atoms form Si-O-Si bonds with the neighboring tetrahedra.