Open AccessZinc(II) tetraphenylporphyrin on Au(111) investigated by scanning tunnelling microscopy and photoemission spectroscopy measurements
Author(s) -
Oreste De Luca,
T. Caruso,
I. Grimaldi,
Alfonso Policicchio,
V. Formoso,
Jun Fujii,
I. Vobornik,
D. Pacilé,
M. Papagno,
R. G. Agostino
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
nanotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.926
H-Index - 203
eISSN - 1361-6528
pISSN - 0957-4484
DOI - 10.1088/1361-6528/ab95ba
Subject(s) - materials science , tetraphenylporphyrin , photoemission spectroscopy , spectroscopy , scanning tunneling microscope , quantum tunnelling , zinc , analytical chemistry (journal) , condensed matter physics , nanotechnology , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , optoelectronics , nuclear magnetic resonance , photochemistry , porphyrin , physics , metallurgy , quantum mechanics , chemistry , chromatography
Porphyrins are a versatile class of molecules, which have attracted attention over the years due to their electronic, optical and biological properties. Self-assembled monolayers of porphyrins were widely studied on metal surfaces in order to understand the supramolecular organization of these molecules, which is a crucial step towards the development of devices starting from the bottom-up approach. This perspective could lead to tailor the interfacial properties of the surface, depending on the specific interaction between the molecular assembly and the metal surface. In this study, we revisit the investigation of the assembly of zinc-tetraphenylporphyrins on Au(111) in order to explore the adsorption of the molecular network on the noble metal substrate. The combined analysis of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) imaging and core levels photoemission spectroscopy measurements support a peculiar arrangement of the ZnTPP molecular network, with Zn atoms occupying the bridge sites of the Au surface atoms. Furthermore, we prove that, at few-layers coverage, the interaction between the deposited layers allows a relevant molecular mobility of the adlayer, as observed by STM and supported by core levels photoemission analysis.