Inducing Transient Charge State of a Single Water Cluster on Cu(111) Surface

The hydrated electron on solid surface is a crucial species to interfacial chemistry. We present a joint low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory investigation to explore the existence of a transient hydrated electron state induced by injecting tunneling electrons into a single water nonamer cluster on Cu(111) surface. The directional diffusion of water cluster under the Coulomb repulsive potential has been observed as evidence for the emergence of the transient hydrated electron. A critical structure transformation in water cluster for the emergence of hydrated electron has been identified. A charging mechanism has been proposed based on density functional theory calculation and scanning tunneling microscope results.