Cu-TBPP and PTCDA molecules on insulating surfaces studied by ultra-high-vacuum non-contact AFM

Laurent Nony (1) , Roland Bennewitz (2) , Oliver Pfeiffer (3) , Enrico Gnecco (3) , Alexis Baratoff (3) , Ernst Meyer (3) , Toyoaki Eguchi (4) , André Gourdon (5) , Christian Joachim (5)

1 L2MP - Laboratoire matériaux et microélectronique de Provence
2 Institute of Physics [Basel]
3 NCCR - Institute of Physics
4 ISSP - Institute for Solid State Physics [Tokyo]
5 CEMES - Centre d'élaboration de matériaux et d'études structurales

The adsorption of two kinds of porphyrin (Cu-TBPP) and perylene (PTCDA) derived organic molecules deposited on KBr and Al2O3 surfaces has been studied by non-contact force microscopy in ultra-high vacuum, our goal being the assembly of ordered molecular arrangements on insulating surfaces at room temperature. On a Cu(100) surface, well ordered islands of Cu-TBPP molecules were successfully imaged. On KBr and Al2O3 surfaces, it was found that the same molecules aggregate in small clusters at step edges, rather than forming ordered monolayers. First measurements with PTCDA on KBr show that nanometre-scale rectangular pits in the surface can act as traps to confine small molecular assemblies.

Mots clés: Non-contact AFM; organic molecules; insulating surfaces; oxides; alkali halides; confinement

Domaines: Agrégats Moléculaires et Atomiques [physics.atm-clus]

Laurent Nony, Roland Bennewitz, Oliver Pfeiffer, Enrico Gnecco, Alexis Baratoff, et al.. Cu-TBPP and PTCDA molecules on insulating surfaces studied by ultra-high-vacuum non-contact AFM. Nanotechnology, 2004, 15, pp.S91-S96. ⟨10.1088/0957-4484/15/2/019⟩. ⟨hal-00014040⟩