Defining Multiple Configurations of Rubrene on a Ag(100) Surface with 5 angstrom Spatial Resolution via Ultrahigh Vacuum Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

摘要

Flexible polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have experienced a surge of research with the discovery of nanographenes that can be fabricated on surfaces. The flexibility in o - bonds within aromatic compounds is carefully managed in order to induce particular binding configurations on a surface that are capable of undergoing cyclodehydrogenation reactions or exhibit unique material functionalities. The structure of adsorbed organic molecules is essential to the design of thin films of these compounds. Highly localized chemical effects must be considered due to sensitivity to defects or amorphous character that destroys the useful properties of the film. Here, ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and tipenhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) have been used to characterize the self-assembly of rubrene on Ag(100). Through comparison with time-dependent density functional theory simulations, the configuration and orientation of rubrene molecules on the surface are defined with an g strom scale resolution.