Evolution of CH3NO2 dissociative adsorption on Si (100)-2×1 and thermally activated C-N bond breakage under ambient conditions

Dissociative adsorption of CH3NO2 onto a Si(100)-2 × 1 surface is studied using ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AP-XPS) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The unprecedented scission of the C-N bond in CH3NO2 and the formation of a Si-CH3 surface species are observed at elevated CH3NO2 pressure (0.5 mbar) and temperature (>573 K).