Benjamin Lowe, PhD Candidate, Monash University
Surface-confined self-assembly is a versatile method for creating and tuning the properties of low-dimensional nanostructures. Here we study the interaction between gold (Au) atoms and dicyanoanthracene (DCA) molecules adsorbed on Ag(111), characterized at 5 K by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS), and atomic force microscopies (ncAFM).
We observed a crystalline two-dimensional self-assembly consisting of close-packed DCA-Au-DCA units, in which a single Au atom binds covalently to a carbon atom at the anthracene ends. This conclusion is based on submolecular resolution ncAFM imaging achieved with a carbon monoxide (CO) functionalized tip probe, combined with atomic-scale STM manipulation of the DCA-Au-DCA units. The formation of such covalently bonded organometallic units indicates a selective on-surface reaction with a relatively low activation barrier which could be exploited to synthesize future functional nanomaterials.
About the presenter
Benjamin Lowe is a PhD student at Monash University where he works in Research theme 1 with Dr Agustin Schiffrin studying the self-assembly of metal-organic systems using a state-of-the-art scanning probe microscopy (SPM)facility that allows metal-organic systems to be engineered and probed with atomic-scale precision. He seeks to develop systems with electronic and opto-electronic properties that are of interest both fundamentally and for prospective electronics applications.