Adsorption height alignment at heteromolecular hybrid interfaces

Abstract

The formation of metalorganic hybrid interfaces is determined by the fine balance between molecule-substrate and molecule-molecule interactions at the interface. Here, we report on a systematic investigation of interfaces between a metal surface and organic monolayer films that consist of two different molecular species, one donor and one acceptor of electronic charge. Our x-ray standing wave data show that in heteromolecular structures, the molecules tend to align themselves to an adsorption height between those observed in the respective homomolecular structures. We attribute this alignment effect to a substrate-mediated charge transfer between the molecules, which causes a mutual enhancement of their respective donor and acceptor characters. We argue that this effect is of general validity for $\ensuremath{\pi}$-conjugated molecules adsorbing on noble metal surfaces.