Describing chain-like assembly of ethoxygroup-functionalized organic molecules on Au(111) using high-throughput simulations

Abstract Due to the low corrugation of the Au(111) surface, 1,4-bis(phenylethynyl)-2,5-bis(ethoxy)benzene (PEEB) molecules can form quasi interlocked lateral patterns, which are observed in scanning tunneling microscopy experiments at low temperatures. We demonstrate a multi-dimensional clustering a...

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Main Authors: Lokamani, Jeffrey Kelling, Robin Ohmann, Jörg Meyer, Tim Kühne, Gianaurelio Cuniberti, Jannic Wolf, Guido Juckeland, Thomas Huhn, Peter Zahn, Francesca Moresco, Sibylle Gemming
Format: article
Language:EN
Published: Nature Portfolio 2021
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Online Access:https://doaj.org/article/4b2206daeba5424a99c43a6d91d8e9e1
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Summary:Abstract Due to the low corrugation of the Au(111) surface, 1,4-bis(phenylethynyl)-2,5-bis(ethoxy)benzene (PEEB) molecules can form quasi interlocked lateral patterns, which are observed in scanning tunneling microscopy experiments at low temperatures. We demonstrate a multi-dimensional clustering approach to quantify the anisotropic pair-wise interaction of molecules and explain these patterns. We perform high-throughput calculations to evaluate an energy function, which incorporates the adsorption energy of single PEEB molecules on the metal surface and the intermolecular interaction energy of a pair of PEEB molecules. The analysis of the energy function reveals, that, depending on coverage density, specific types of pattern are preferred which can potentially be exploited to form one-dimensional molecular wires on Au(111).