Open AccessSite selective adsorption of the spin crossover complex Fe(phen)2(NCS) on Au(111)
Author(s) -
Sumit Beniwal,
Suchetana Sarkar,
Felix Baier,
Birgit Weber,
Peter A. Dowben,
Axel Enders
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of physics. condensed matter
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.908
H-Index - 228
eISSN - 1361-648X
pISSN - 0953-8984
DOI - 10.1088/1361-648x/ab808d
Subject(s) - crystallography , molecule , monolayer , adsorption , spin crossover , chemistry , materials science , nanotechnology , organic chemistry
The iron(II) spin crossover complex Fe(1,10-phenanthroline) 2 (NCS) 2 , dubbed Fe-phen, has been studied with scanning tunneling microscopy, after adsorption on the ‘herringbone’ reconstructed surface of Au(111) for sub-monolayer coverages. The Fe-phen molecules attach, through their NCS-groups, to the Au atoms of the fcc domains of the reconstructed surface only, thereby lifting the herringbone reconstruction. The molecules stack to form 1D chains, which run along the Au[110] directions. Neighboring Fe-phen molecules are separated by approximately 2.65 nm, corresponding to 9 atomic spacings in this direction. The molecular axis, defined by the two phenanthroline groups, is aligned perpendicular to the chain axis, along the Au 22 1 ¯ direction, thereby bridging over 5 atomic spacings, in this direction. Experimental evidence suggests that the molecular spins are locked in a mixed state in the sub-monolayer regime at temperatures between 100 K and 300 K.