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Coverage‐Dependent Self‐Assembly of Rubrene Molecules on Noble Metal Surfaces Observed by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy
Author(s) -
Pivetta Marina,
Blüm MarieChristine,
Patthey François,
Schneider WolfDieter
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
chemphyschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1439-7641
pISSN - 1439-4235
DOI - 10.1002/cphc.200900846
Subject(s) - rubrene , scanning tunneling microscope , supramolecular chemistry , molecule , self assembly , noble metal , crystallography , materials science , nanotechnology , chemical physics , metal , small molecule , chemistry , organic chemistry , optoelectronics , biochemistry
Coverage‐dependent self‐assembly of rubrene molecules on different noble metal surfaces, Au(111) and Au(100), Ag(111) and Ag(100), is presented. On Au(111), the homochiral supramolecular assemblies evolve with increasing rubrene coverage from very small structures composed of a few molecules, to honeycomb islets, and to one‐dimensional chains of supramolecular pentamers. At higher coverage, the racemic mixture of molecules forms close‐packed islands. On Au(100), chains of pentamers and two different types of densely packed islands are formed. On the Ag surfaces, exclusively close‐packed islands are created, independently of the rubrene coverage. Moreover, the role of the chiral nature of the molecules in the self‐assembly process is discussed, as well as the existence of different molecular conformers depending on the supramolecular assembled phase. The observed differences and similarities reflect the influence of the electronic properties and the geometric structure of the various substrates on molecular self‐assembly.