Abstract
We report on the formation of fullerene-derived nanostructures on Au(111) at room temperature and under UHV conditions. After low-energy ion sputtering of fullerene films deposited on Au(111), bright spots appear at the herringbone corner sites when measured using a scanning tunneling microscope. These features are stable at room temperature against diffusion on the surface. We carry out DFT calculations of fullerene molecules having one missing carbon atom to simulate the vacancies in the molecules resulting from the sputtering process. These modified fullerenes have an adsorption energy on the Au(111) surface that is 1.6 eV higher than that of C60 molecules. This increased binding energy arises from the saturation by the Au surface of the bonds around the molecular vacancy defect. We therefore interpret the observed features as adsorbed fullerene-derived molecules with C vacancies. This provides a pathway for the formation of fullerene-based nanostructures on Au at room temperature.
Highlights
In single-molecule electronics, the active element in an electronic circuit is a small molecule connected to two nanoelectrodes, and molecular chemical properties determine the characteristics of current flow
scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images taken after Ar+ bombardment (120 eV, 5 min) [32,33,34] of the system (Figure 1b) show single bright dots on the surface, which correspond to individual molecules disjoined from islands as a result of the sputtering process
In order to understand the STM measurements, we carried out electronic-structure calculations based on density functional theory (DFT), focusing on fullerene molecules with vacancy defects where the missing C atoms result in increased reactivity and stronger binding with the substrate
Summary
In single-molecule electronics, the active element in an electronic circuit is a small molecule connected to two nanoelectrodes, and molecular chemical properties determine the characteristics of current flow. STM images taken after Ar+ bombardment (120 eV, 5 min) [32,33,34] of the system (Figure 1b) show single bright dots on the surface, which correspond to individual molecules disjoined from islands as a result of the sputtering process. The sputtering process is expected to result in the formation of vacancies in the fullerene molecules, where C atoms are knocked out.
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