# Adsorption and dissociation of iron phthalocyanine on H/Si(111): Impact of van-der-Waals interactions and perspectives for subsurface doping

## TL;DR

This study investigates the adsorption behavior of iron phthalocyanine on H/Si(111), emphasizing van-der-Waals interactions, and explores implications for subsurface doping with detailed first-principles calculations and STM simulations.

## Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of van-der-Waals interaction approaches and discusses potential subsurface doping reactions of FePc on H/Si(111).

## Key findings

- FePc is mainly physisorbed with a 2.6 Å distance from the surface.
- Simulated STM images match experimental data well.
- Fe is strongly bound in the molecule with about 9.6 eV binding energy.

## Abstract

The adsorption of iron phthalocyanine (FePc) on the passivated H/Si(111) surface is explored from first principles. We find that the organic molecule is predominantly physisorbed with a distance to the surface of $2.6 \pm 0.1$ Angstrom, but also exhibits sizable resonance with the underlying substrate. This establishes the present system as interesting mixed covalent-van-der-Waals-bound test case, which we use to compare the impact of different approaches to van-der-Waals interactions. (Spin-polarized) scanning tunneling microscopy (SP STM) images are simulated, selectively accessing different molecular orbitals via the applied bias voltage in the spirit of scanning tunneling spectroscopy. Comparison with experimental STM images reveals very good agreement. We find a significant magnetic contrast exceeding $\pm 1$ Angstrom in the SP STM images for $-2$ and $+1.5$ V. Binding energies of different (transition metal) atoms in the center of the Pc ring are presented, which particularly show that Fe is strongly bound in the molecule (about $9.6$ eV). Finally, we discuss different reactions for subsurface doping by room-temperature FePc deposition and point out two feasible reactions.