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Ultra‐High Vacuum Deposition of Pyrene Molecules on Metal Surfaces
Author(s) -
Schleicher Sebastian,
Borca Bogdana,
Rawson Jeff,
Matthes Frank,
Bürgler Daniel E.,
Kögerler Paul,
Schneider Claus M.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
physica status solidi (b)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1521-3951
pISSN - 0370-1972
DOI - 10.1002/pssb.201800235
Subject(s) - monolayer , pyrene , scanning tunneling microscope , ultra high vacuum , molecule , sublimation (psychology) , tetramethylsilane , chemical vapor deposition , materials science , substrate (aquarium) , chemistry , island growth , crystallography , analytical chemistry (journal) , nanotechnology , layer (electronics) , organic chemistry , psychology , oceanography , geology , psychotherapist , epitaxy
Interfacial properties of organic adsorbates featuring aromatic π ‐orbitals on metal surfaces play an important role for organic electronics and spintronics. Pyrene is a flat aromatic molecule with a size between ultimately small benzene and extended graphene segments. The deposition of pyrene molecules onto clean and reactive surfaces with a sub‐monolayer coverage under ultra‐high vacuum (UHV) conditions is challenging, since pyrene is a solid with a high vapor pressure. Here, a sublimation procedure under UHV and image pyrene adlayers on in situ prepared Au(111) and Fe/W(110) substrates by means of low‐temperature scanning tunneling microscopy is presented. For Au(111), the molecule–surface interaction is weak as indicated by the specific herringbone reconstruction of the Au(111) surface that is visible through the self‐assembled pyrene adlayer. Pyrene desorption due to weak intermolecular interaction self‐limits the growth to one monolayer (ML). On the more reactive 2–4 ML thick Fe films on W(110), the molecular order of the pyrene adlayer sensitively depends on the Fe thickness‐dependent dislocation pattern at the substrate surface. Irregular arrangements occur for 1 ML Fe and near substrate dislocations for 2–4 ML Fe. Self‐assembled ordered arrays form predominantly for 2 ML Fe, where the dislocation pattern leaves sufficiently large unperturbed areas between the dislocation lines.