Atom beam triangulation of organic layers at 100 meV normal energy: self-assembled perylene on Ag(110) at room temperature

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a novel atom beam triangulation method using low-energy atoms to monitor the self-assembly of organic layers, specifically perylene on Ag(110), at room temperature without damaging the layer.

Contribution

It introduces a new triangulation technique with low-energy atoms for real-time, non-destructive monitoring of organic layer growth on surfaces.

Findings

Effective tracking of perylene monolayer formation at room temperature

Low-energy atom beam prevents damage to organic layers

Detailed image processing for triangulation technique provided

Abstract

The controlled growth of organic layer on surface is still awaiting for an on-line reliable monitoring that would allow improvement of its quality. We show here that the self-assembly of the perylene monolayer deposited on Ag(110) at room temperature can be tracked with low energy atoms in a regime where the energy perpendicular to the layer is less than 0.1 eV preventing damage to the layer. The image processing required for this triangulation technique with atoms is described in details.