DFT study of NH3 dissociation on Si(1 1 1)-7 × 7. The role of intermolecular interactions

The adsorption of NH3 molecule on the Si(1 1 1)-7 × 7 surface modelled with a cluster has been studied using density functional theory (DFT). The results indicate the existence of a precursor state for the non-dissociative chemisorption. The active site for the molecular chemisorption is the adatom; while the NH3 molecule adsorbs on the Si restatom via this preadsorbed state, the adsorption on the Si adatom is produced practically without an energy barrier. The ammonia adsorption on the adatom induces an electron transfer from the dangling bond of this atom to the dangling bond of the adjacent Si restatom, hindering this site for the adsorption of a second NH3 incoming molecule. However, this second molecule links strongly by means of two H-bonds. The dissociative chemisorption process was studied considering one and two ammonia molecules. For the dissociation of a lonely NH3 molecule an energy barrier of ∼0.3 eV was calculated, yielding NH2 on the adatom and H on the restatom. When two molecules are adsorbed, the NH3-NH3 interaction yields the weakening of a N-H bond of the ammonia molecule adsorbed closer the Si surface. As a consequence, the dissociation barrier practically disappears. Thus, the presence of a second NH3 molecule at the adatom-restatom pair of the Si(1 1 1)-7 × 7 surface makes the dissociative reaction self-assisted, the total adsorption process elapsing with a negligible activation barrier (less than 0.01 eV).