Abstract
Self-assembly of iron(II) phthalocyanine (FePc) molecules on a Ge(001):H surface results in monolayer islands extending over hundreds of nanometers and comprising upright-oriented entities. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy reveals a transport gap of 2.70 eV in agreement with other reports regarding isolated FePc molecules. Detailed analysis of single FePc molecules trapped at surface defects indicates that the molecules stay intact upon adsorption and can be manipulated away from surface defects onto a perfectly hydrogenated surface. This allows for their isolation from the germanium surface.
Highlights
The development of molecular circuitry requires the preparation of nanostructures isolated from the influence of the underlying substrate
Our results suggest that the FePc islands are well isolated electronically from the influence of the underlying germanium by the passivating hydrogen layer. This is in line with previous reports showing that other organic compounds are well decoupled from the surface by hydrogen, unless they are contacted with the underlying semiconductor through atomic-scale defects, that is, dangling bonds (DBs) or dangling bond dimer (DBD) [25]
We have demonstrated that FePc molecules deposited on a Ge(001):H surface at room temperature self-assemble into extended monolayer islands comprising upright-oriented FePc molecules
Summary
The development of molecular circuitry requires the preparation of nanostructures isolated from the influence of the underlying substrate. Within these islands FePc molecules adopt an upright orientation, which is characteristic for substrates weekly interacting with metal phthalocyanines.
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