Room temperature electronic template effect of pre-structured SmSi(111)-8x2 interface yielding self-aligned organic molecules

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that a pre-structured SmSi(111)-8x2 interface can serve as an effective template for the self-alignment of organic molecules at room temperature, combining experimental STM imaging with theoretical calculations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel room-temperature template effect of a semi-metallic SmSi(111)-8x2 surface for organizing organic molecules, supported by combined experimental and theoretical analysis.

Findings

Successful self-alignment of organic molecules on SmSi(111)-8x2

Good agreement between experimental STM data and theoretical models

Identification of specific adsorption sites on the template surface

Abstract

This work describes an innovative concept for the development of organized molecular systems thanks to the template effect of the pre-structured semi-conductive SmSi(111) interface. This substrate was selected because Sm deposition in the submonolayer range leads to a 8x2-reconstruction, which is a well-defined one-dimensional semi-metallic structure. Adsorption of aromatic molecules (1,4-di-(9-ethynyltriptycenyl)-benzene) on SmSi(111)-8x2 and Si(111)-7x7 interfaces has been investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) at room temperature. Density functional theory (DFT) and semi-empirical (ASED+) calculations have been performed to define the nature of the molecular adsorption sites of the target molecule on SmSi as well as their self-alignment on this interface. Experimental data and theoretical results are in good agreement.