Do Two-Dimensional "Noble Gas Atoms" Produce Molecular Honeycombs at a Metal Surface?
Journal article, 2011
Anthraquinone self-assembles on Cu(111) into a giant honeycomb network with exactly three molecules on each side. Here we propose that the exceptional degree of order achieved in this system can be explained as a consequence of the confinement of substrate electrons in the pores, with the pore size tailored so that the confined electrons can adopt a noble-gas-like two-dimensional quasi-atom configuration with two filled shells. Formation of identical pores in a related adsorption system (at different overall periodicity due to the different molecule size) corroborates this concept. A combination of photoemission spectroscopy with density functional theory computations (including van der Waals interactions) of adsorbate-substrate interactions allows quantum mechanical modeling of the spectra of the resultant quasi-atoms and their energetics.
dynamics
molecular networks
microscope
self-assembly
corrals
scattering
scanning tunneling
Quantum dots
electronic-structure
Cu(111)
quantum dots
tunneling spectroscopy
microscopy
ag(111)
confinement
mirages
adsorption at surfaces
Author
J. Wyrick
University of California, Riverside
D. H. Kim
University of California, Riverside
D. Z. Sun
University of California, Riverside
Z. H. Cheng
University of California, Riverside
W. H. Lu
University of California, Riverside
Y. M. Zhu
University of California, Riverside
Kristian Berland
Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Electronics Material and Systems Laboratory
Y. S. Kim
Hanyang University
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
E. Rotenberg
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
M. M. Luo
University of California, Riverside
Per Hyldgaard
Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Electronics Material and Systems Laboratory
T. L. Einstein
University of Maryland
L. Bartels
University of California, Riverside
Nano Letters
1530-6984 (ISSN) 1530-6992 (eISSN)
Vol. 11 7 2944-2948Areas of Advance
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Materials Science
Subject Categories (SSIF 2011)
Physical Chemistry
Organic Chemistry
Condensed Matter Physics
Roots
Basic sciences
DOI
10.1021/nl201441b