Structure of C70 layer on the Si(111)3×3-Ag Surface: STM Study

• Published in: Journal of the Korean Physical Society Vol. 73; no. 5; pp. 599 - 604
• Main Authors: Woo, Jeongseok, Shim, Hyungjoon, Lee, Geunseop
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Seoul The Korean Physical Society 01.09.2018; Springer Nature B.V; 한국물리학회
• Subjects: Antiphase boundaries; Compressive properties; Crystallography; Mathematical and Computational Physics; Particle and Nuclear Physics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Rotation; Scanning tunneling microscopy; Silver; Substrates; Theoretical; 물리학; Scanning tunneling microscopy; C; Molecular ordering; Adsorption; Si; Ag
• ISSN: 0374-4884; 1976-8524
• DOI: 10.3938/jkps.73.599

Adsorption of C 70 molecules on the Si(111) 3 × 3 -Ag surface and their monolayer ordering at room temperature were investigated by using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Islands of C 70 molecules with close-packed hexagonal arrays were formed, growing from step edges or anti-phase domain boundaries of the substrate. Three different orientations of C 70 molecular rows were identified, making angles of 0 ◦ , 10.9 ◦ , and approximately 30 ◦ with the main crystallographic direction of the Si(111) 3 × 3 Ag surface. The 0 ◦ - and 10.9 ◦ -rotation domains are well registered to the substrate, suggesting a considerable molecule-substrate interaction. These domains are under compressive stress and thus populated with C 70 molecules showing various STM contrasts. In comparison, the molecules in the ~ 30 ◦ -rotation domain interact weaker with the substrate and are subject to little stress. Thus the domain is populated with C 70 molecules showing rather homogeneous STM contrasts.