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.
microscopy
Quantum dots
corrals
tunneling spectroscopy
scanning tunneling
quantum dots
self-assembly
ag(111)
electronic-structure
scattering
adsorption at surfaces
mirages
confinement
dynamics
molecular networks
microscope
Cu(111)
Author
J. Wyrick
University of California
D. H. Kim
University of California
D. Z. Sun
University of California
Z. H. Cheng
University of California
W. H. Lu
University of California
Y. M. Zhu
University of California
Kristian Berland
Chalmers, Applied Physics, Electronics Material and Systems
Y. S. Kim
Hanyang University
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
E. Rotenberg
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
M. M. Luo
University of California
Per Hyldgaard
Chalmers, Applied Physics, Electronics Material and Systems
T. L. Einstein
University of Maryland
L. Bartels
University of California
Nano Letters
1530-6984 (ISSN) 1530-6992 (eISSN)
Vol. 11 7 2944-2948Areas of Advance
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Materials Science
Subject Categories
Physical Chemistry
Organic Chemistry
Condensed Matter Physics
Roots
Basic sciences
DOI
10.1021/nl201441b