Abstract
The fabrication methods of the microelectronics industry have been refined to produce ever smaller devices, but will soon reach their fundamental limits. A promising alternative route to even smaller functional systems with nanometre dimensions is the autonomous ordering and assembly of atoms and molecules on atomically well-defined surfaces. This approach combines ease of fabrication with exquisite control over the shape, composition and mesoscale organization of the surface structures formed. Once the mechanisms controlling the self-ordering phenomena are fully understood, the self-assembly and growth processes can be steered to create a wide range of surface nanostructures from metallic, semiconducting and molecular materials.
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Acknowledgements
K.K. thanks the many students, postdocs and scientific collaborators who have contributed to the exploration of the atomic world of surfaces and nanostructures. Special thanks go to N. Lin for his enthusiasm in advancing the concepts of supramolecular chemistry at surfaces.
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Barth, J., Costantini, G. & Kern, K. Engineering atomic and molecular nanostructures at surfaces. Nature 437, 671–679 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04166
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04166
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