STM tip-induced nanostructuring of Zn in an ionic liquid on Au(1 1 1) electrode surfaces

In this communication, the “jump-to-contact” based STM tip-induced nanostructuring is extended to BMIBF4 ionic liquid for the first time. It is demonstrated successfully that Zn, as an example of less noble metal and being hard to deposit from aqueous solutions, can be nanostructured on Au(1 1 1) surfaces in the ionic liquid. Due to the large effective tunnel barrier in the ionic liquid, the Z-pulse required to create Zn nanoclusters in ionic liquid is about twice as large as for Cu nanoclusters of similar size in aqueous solutions. Patterns as well as large-scale arrays consisting of 100 × 100 Zn nanoclusters have been produced. The present work demonstrates the feasibility for surface nanostructuring a new category of systems that have not been possible in aqueous solutions, which could open up new opportunities for studies of nanoscopic effects from various aspects.