Web Release Date: March 23,
Site- and Orientation-Selective Anchoring of a Prototypical Molecular Building Block
n Palots,
and
Contribution from the Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research, Feuerwerkerstrasse 39, 3602 Thun, Switzerland, Surface Science Research Center, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, Britain, and Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
Received October 18, 2006
Revised Manuscript Received February 7, 2007
Abstract:
The controlled anchoring of molecular building blocks on appropriate templates is a major
prerequisite for the rational design and fabrication of supramolecular architectures on surfaces. We report
on a particularly selective adsorption process of hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene on Au(111), which leads
to well-controlled adsorption position and orientation of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Scanning
tunneling microscopy reveals selective adsorption on monatomic steps in the fcc stacking regions with a
specific orientation of 18
between the molecular axis and the step normal. Ab initio calculations for various
adsorption sites reveal the lowest total energy for adsorption on a kink site. Energy considerations and the
excellent agreement between experimental and simulated images show that adsorption on kink sites is
responsible for the specific adsorption angle.
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