Stabilisation of tri-valent ions with a vacant coordination site at a corrole-metal interface.

By exploiting an established on-surface metallation strategy, we address the ability of the corrolic macrocycle to stabilise transition metal ions in high-valent (III) oxidation states in metal-supported molecular layers. This approach offers a route to engineer adsorbed metal complexes that cannot be easily fabricated by organic synthesis methods and bear a vacant axial coordination site for catalytic conversions.

Validation of the inverted adsorption structure for free-base tetraphenyl porphyrin on Cu(111).

Utilising normal incidence X-ray standing waves we rigourously scrutinise the "inverted model" as the adsorption structure of free-base tetraphenyl porphyrin on Cu(111). We demonstrate that the iminic N atoms are anchored at near-bridge adsorption sites on the surface displaced laterally by 1.1 ± 0.2 Å in excellent agreement with previously published calculations.

Local adsorption structure and bonding of porphine on Cu(111) before and after self-metalation.

We have experimentally determined the lateral registry and geometric structure of free-base porphine (2H-P) and copper-metalated porphine (Cu-P) adsorbed on Cu(111), by means of energy-scanned photoelectron diffraction (PhD), and compared the experimental results to density functional theory (DFT) calculations that included van der Waals corrections within the Tkatchenko-Scheffler approach. Both 2H-P and Cu-P adsorb with their center above a surface bridge site. Consistency is obtained between the experimental and DFT-predicted structural models, with a characteristic change in the corrugation of the four N atoms of the molecule's macrocycle following metalation. Interestingly, comparison with previously published data for cobalt porphine adsorbed on the same surface evidences a distinct increase in the average height of the N atoms above the surface through the series 2H-P, Cu-P, and cobalt porphine. Such an increase strikingly anti-correlates the DFT-predicted adsorption strength, with 2H-P having the smallest adsorption height despite the weakest calculated adsorption energy. In addition, our findings suggest that for these macrocyclic compounds, substrate-to-molecule charge transfer and adsorption strength may not be univocally correlated.

Absolute timing of the photoelectric effect.

Photoemission spectroscopy is central to understanding the inner workings of condensed matter, from simple metals and semiconductors to complex materials such as Mott insulators and superconductors1. Most state-of-the-art knowledge about such solids stems from spectroscopic investigations, and use of subfemtosecond light pulses can provide a time-domain perspective. For example, attosecond (10-18 seconds) metrology allows electron wave packet creation, transport and scattering to be followed on atomic length scales and on attosecond timescales2-7. However, previous studies could not disclose the duration of these processes, because the arrival time of the photons was not known with attosecond precision. Here we show that this main source of ambiguity can be overcome by introducing the atomic chronoscope method, which references all measured timings to the moment of light-pulse arrival and therefore provides absolute timing of the processes under scrutiny. Our proof-of-principle experiment reveals that photoemission from the tungsten conduction band can proceed faster than previously anticipated. By contrast, the duration of electron emanation from core states is correctly described by semiclassical modelling. These findings highlight the necessity of treating the origin, initial excitation and transport of electrons in advanced modelling of the attosecond response of solids, and our absolute data provide a benchmark. Starting from a robustly characterized surface, we then extend attosecond spectroscopy towards isolating the emission properties of atomic adsorbates on surfaces and demonstrate that these act as photoemitters with instantaneous response. We also find that the tungsten core-electron timing remains unchanged by the adsorption of less than one monolayer of dielectric atoms, providing a starting point for the exploration of excitation and charge migration in technologically and biologically relevant adsorbate systems.

Identifying On-Surface Site-Selective Chemical Conversions by Theory-Aided NEXAFS Spectroscopy: The Case of Free-Base Corroles on Ag(111).

We demonstrate here that theory-assisted near-edge X-ray absorption fine-structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy enables the site-sensitive monitoring of on-surface chemical reactions, thus, providing information not accessible by other techniques. As a prototype example, we have used free-base 5,10,15-tris(pentafluorophenyl)corroles (3H-TpFPC) adsorbed on Ag(111) and present a detailed investigation of the angle-dependent NEXAFS of this molecular species as well as of their thermally induced derivatives. For this, we have recorded experimental C and N K-edge NEXAFS spectra and interpret them based on XAS cross-section calculations by using a continuous fraction approach and core-hole including multiprojector PAW pseudopotentials within DFT. We have characterized the as-deposited low temperature (200 K) phase and unraveled the subsequent changes induced by dehydrogenation (at 330 K) and ring-closure reactions (at 430 K). By exemplarily obtaining profound insight into the on-surface chemistry of free-base corrolic species adsorbed on a noble metal this work highlights how angle-dependent XAS combined with accurate theoretical modeling can serve for the investigation of on-surface reactions, whereby even highly similar molecular structures, such as tautomers and isomers, can be distinguished.

Device-Compatible Chiroptical Surfaces through Self-Assembly of Enantiopure Allenes.

Chiroptical methods have been proven to be superior compared to their achiral counterparts for the structural elucidation of many compounds. To expand the use of chiroptical systems to everyday applications, the development of functional materials exhibiting intense chiroptical responses is essential. Particularly, tailored and robust interfaces compatible with standard device operation conditions are required. Herein, we present the design and synthesis of chiral allenes and their use for the functionalization of gold surfaces. The self-assembly results in a monolayer-thin room-temperature-stable upstanding chiral architecture as ascertained by ellipsometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure. Moreover, these nanostructures anchored to device-compatible substrates feature intense chiroptical second harmonic generation. Both straightforward preparation of the device-compatible interfaces along with their chiroptical nature provide major prospects for everyday applications.

Preservation of electronic properties of double-decker complexes on metallic supports.

Single-molecule magnets based on lanthanide double-deckers are attracting significant attention due to their unrivaled single-ion anisotropy. To exploit their fascinating electronic and magnetic properties in devices for information storage or spin transport, studies on the preservation or variation of electronic and magnetic functionalities upon adsorption on surfaces are necessary. Herein, we introduced a comprehensive scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) surface science study, complemented by density functional theory (DFT) simulations, of a recently synthesized single-molecule magnet based on porphyrazine deckers, conveniently equipped with ethyl moieties to make them soluble and sublimable. We demonstrated that the double-decker species were intactly adsorbed on Au(111), Ag(111), and Cu(111) in a flat-on fashion and self-assembled in hexagonal close-packed layers. Systematic multi- and monolayer XPS was performed on the surface-confined species, confirming the preservation of the electronic properties of the ligands and the lanthanide center upon adsorption.

Formation of a thermally stable bilayer of coadsorbed intact and deprotonated thymine exploiting the surface corrugation of rutile TiO2(110).

The adsorption of thymine, a pyrimidine based nucleobase, was studied on the (110) termination of rutile titanium dioxide in order to understand the thermal stability and gross structural parameters of the interaction between a strongly polar adsorbate and a highly corrugated transition metal oxide surface. Near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), temperature programmed XPS and temperature programmed desorption indicated the growth of a room temperature stable bilayer, which could only be removed by annealing to 450 K. The remaining first layer was remarkably robust, surviving annealing up to 550 K before undergoing N-H bond scission. The comparison to XPS of a sub-monolayer exposure of 1-methyluracil shows that the origin of the room temperature stable bilayer is not intermolecular interactions. This discovery, alongside the deprotonation of one of the first layer's pyrimidinic nitrogen atoms at room temperature, suggests that the thymine molecules in the first layer bind to the undercoordinated surface Ti atoms, and the second layer thymine molecules coordinate with the bridging oxygen atoms which protrude above the Ti surface plane on the (110) surface. The NEXAFS results indicate an almost upright orientation of the molecules in both layers, with a 30 ± 10° tilt away from the surface normal.

Toward interfacing organic semiconductors with ferromagnetic transition metal substrates: enhanced stability via carboxylate anchoring.

We demonstrate that chemically well-defined aromatic self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) bonded via a carboxylate head group to surfaces of ferromagnetic (FM = Co, Ni, Fe) transition metals can be prepared at ambient temperature in ultra-high vacuum and are thermally stable up to 350-400 K (depending on the metal). The much superior stability over thiolate-bonded SAMs, which readily decompose above 200 K, and the excellent electronic communication guaranteed by the carboxylate bonding render benzoate/FM-metal interfaces promising candidates for application in spintronics.

Quantum confinement in self-assembled two-dimensional nanoporous honeycomb networks at close-packed metal surfaces.

Quantum confinement of a two-dimensional electron gas by supramolecular nanoporous networks is investigated using the boundary elements method based on Green's functions for finite geometries and electron plane wave expansion for periodic systems. The "particle in a box" picture was analyzed for cases with selected symmetries that model previously reported architectures constructed from organic and metal-organic scattering centers confining surface state electrons of Ag(111) and Cu(111). First, by analyzing a series of cases with systematically defined parameters (scattering geometry, potentials, and effective broadening), we demonstrate how the scattering processes affect the properties of the confined electrons. For the features of the local density of states reported by scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS), we disentangle the contributions of lifetime broadening and splitting of quantum well states due to coupling of neighboring quantum dots. For each system, we analyze the local electron density distribution and relate it to the corresponding band structure as calculated within the plane-wave expansion framework. Then, we address two experimental investigations, where in one case only STS data and in the other case mainly angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) data were reported. In both cases, the experimental findings can be successfully simulated. Furthermore, the missing information can be complemented because our approach allows to correlate the information obtained by STS with that of ARPES. The combined analysis of several observations suggests that the scattering potentials created by the network originate primarily from the adsorbate-induced changes of the local surface dipole barrier.

Direct observation of electron propagation and dielectric screening on the atomic length scale.

The propagation and transport of electrons in crystals is a fundamental process pertaining to the functioning of most electronic devices. Microscopic theories describe this phenomenon as being based on the motion of Bloch wave packets. These wave packets are superpositions of individual Bloch states with the group velocity determined by the dispersion of the electronic band structure near the central wavevector in momentum space. This concept has been verified experimentally in artificial superlattices by the observation of Bloch oscillations--periodic oscillations of electrons in real and momentum space. Here we present a direct observation of electron wave packet motion in a real-space and real-time experiment, on length and time scales shorter than the Bloch oscillation amplitude and period. We show that attosecond metrology (1 as = 10(-18) seconds) now enables quantitative insight into weakly disturbed electron wave packet propagation on the atomic length scale without being hampered by scattering effects, which inevitably occur over macroscopic propagation length scales. We use sub-femtosecond (less than 10(-15) seconds) extreme-ultraviolet light pulses to launch photoelectron wave packets inside a tungsten crystal that is covered by magnesium films of varied, well-defined thicknesses of a few ångströms. Probing the moment of arrival of the wave packets at the surface with attosecond precision reveals free-electron-like, ballistic propagation behaviour inside the magnesium adlayer--constituting the semi-classical limit of Bloch wave packet motion. Real-time access to electron transport through atomic layers and interfaces promises unprecedented insight into phenomena that may enable the scaling of electronic and photonic circuits to atomic dimensions. In addition, this experiment allows us to determine the penetration depth of electrical fields at optical frequencies at solid interfaces on the atomic scale.

Investigating the molecule-substrate interaction of prototypic tetrapyrrole compounds: adsorption and self-metalation of porphine on Cu(111).

We report on the adsorption and self-metalation of a prototypic tetrapyrrole compound, the free-base porphine (2H-P), on the Cu(111) surface. Our multitechnique study combines scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) results with near-edge X-ray absorption fine-structure (NEXAFS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) data whose interpretation is supported by density functional theory calculations. In the first layer in contact with the copper substrate the molecules adsorb coplanar with the surface as shown by angle-resolved NEXAFS measurements. The quenching of the first resonance in the magic angle spectra of both carbon and nitrogen regions indicates a substantial electron transfer from the substrate to the LUMO of the molecule. The stepwise annealing of a bilayer of 2H-P molecules sequentially transforms the XP and NEXAFS signatures of the nitrogen regions into those indicative of the coordinated nitrogen species of the metalated copper porphine (Cu-P), i.e., we observe a temperature-induced self-metalation of the system. Pre- and post-metalation species are clearly discriminable by STM, corroborating the spectroscopic results. Similar to the free-base porphine, the Cu-P adsorbs flat in the first layer without distortion of the macrocycle. Additionally, the electron transfer from the copper surface to the molecule is preserved upon metalation. This behavior contrasts the self-metalation of tetraphenylporphyrin (2H-TPP) on Cu(111), where both the molecular conformation and the interaction with the substrate are strongly affected by the metalation process.

Binding geometry of hydrogen-bonded chain motif in self-assembled gratings and layers on Ag(111).

Upon adsorption on the (111) facet of Ag, 4-[trans-2-(pyrid-4-yl-vinyl)] benzoic acid (PVBA) self-assembles into a highly ordered, chiral twin chain structure at submonolayer coverages with domains that can extend for micrometers in one dimension. Using polarization-dependent measurements of C and N K-shell excitations in near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectra, we determine the binding geometry of single PVBA molecules within this unique ensemble for both low and high coverage regimes. At submonolayer coverage, the molecule is twisted to facilitate the formation of hydrogen bonds. The gas-phase planarity is gradually recovered as the coverage is increased, with complete planarity coinciding with loss of order in the overlayer. Thermal treatment of the PVBA film results in deprotonation of the carboxyl tail of the molecule, but despite the suppression of the stabilizing hydrogen-bonds, the overlayer remains ordered.

Attosecond time-resolved photoemission from core and valence states of magnesium.

We report on laser-assisted attosecond photoemission from single-crystalline magnesium. In strong contrast to the previously investigated transition metal tungsten, photoelectron wave packets originating from the localized core level and delocalized valence-band states are launched simultaneously from the solid within the experimental uncertainty of 20 as. This phenomenon is shown to be compatible with a heuristic model based on free-particle-like propagation of the electron wave packets generated inside the crystal by the attosecond excitation pulse and their subsequent interaction with the assisting laser field at the metal-vacuum interface.

Self-metalation of 2H-tetraphenylporphyrin on Cu(111): an x-ray spectroscopy study.

The bonding and the temperature-driven metalation of 2H-tetraphenylporphyrin (2H-TPP) on the Cu(111) surface under ultrahigh vacuum conditions were investigated by a combination of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy with density functional theory calculations. Thin films were prepared by organic molecular beam epitaxy and subsequent annealing. Our systematic study provides an understanding of the changes of the spectroscopic signature during adsorption and metalation. Specifically, we achieved a detailed peak assignment of the 2H-TPP multilayer data of the C1s and the N1s region. After annealing to 420 K both XPS and NEXAFS show the signatures of a metalloporphyrin, which indicates self-metalation at the porphyrin-substrate interface, resulting in Cu-TPP. Furthermore, for 2H-TPP monolayer samples we show how the strong influence of the copper surface is reflected in the spectroscopic signatures. Adsorption results in a strongly deformed macrocycle and a quenching of the first NEXAFS resonance in the nitrogen edge suggesting electron transfer into the LUMO. For Cu-TPP the spectroscopic data indicate a reduced interaction of first-layer molecules with the substrate as demonstrated by the relaxed macrocycle geometry.

A flexible apparatus for attosecond photoelectron spectroscopy of solids and surfaces.

We describe an apparatus for attosecond photoelectron spectroscopy of solids and surfaces, which combines the generation of isolated attosecond extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) laser pulses by high harmonic generation in gases with time-resolved photoelectron detection and surface science techniques in an ultrahigh vacuum environment. This versatile setup provides isolated attosecond pulses with photon energies of up to 140 eV and few-cycle near infrared pulses for studying ultrafast electron dynamics in a large variety of surfaces and interfaces. The samples can be prepared and characterized on an atomic scale in a dedicated flexible surface science end station. The extensive possibilities offered by this apparatus are demonstrated by applying attosecond XUV pulses with a central photon energy of ∼125 eV in an attosecond streaking experiment of a xenon multilayer grown on a Re(0001) substrate.

Tunable quantum dot arrays formed from self-assembled metal-organic networks.

The confinement of Ag(111) surface-state electrons by self-assembled, nanoporous metal-organic networks is studied using low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy as well as electronic structure calculations. The honeycomb networks of Co metal centers and dicarbonitrile-oligophenyl linkers induce surface resonance states confined in the cavities with a tunable energy level alignment. We find that electron scattering is repulsive on the molecules and weakly attractive on Co. The tailored networks represent periodic arrays of uniform and coupled quantum dots.

Cleaving-temperature dependence of layered-oxide surfaces.

The surfaces generated by cleaving nonpolar, two-dimensional oxides are often considered to be perfect or ideal. However, single particle spectroscopies on Sr2RuO4, an archetypal nonpolar two-dimensional oxide, show significant cleavage temperature dependence. We demonstrate that this is not a consequence of the intrinsic characteristics of the surface: lattice parameters and symmetries, step heights, atom positions, or density of states. Instead, we find a marked increase in the density of defects at the mesoscopic scale with increased cleave temperature. The potential generality of these defects to oxide surfaces may have broad consequences to interfacial control and the interpretation of surface sensitive measurements.

Temperature dependence of conformation, chemical state, and metal-directed assembly of tetrapyridyl-porphyrin on Cu(111).

We present a combined scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), near-edge x-ray-absorption fine-structure, and x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) study on the bonding and ordering of tetrapyridyl-porphyrin molecules on the Cu(111) surface in the 300-500 K temperature range. Following deposition at 300 K the molecules are adsorbed with a pronounced conformational adaptation of the anchored species featuring a saddle-shaped macrocycle and terminal groups pointing toward the substrate. Upon moderate annealing supramolecular chains evolve that are stabilized by metal-ligand interactions between the mesopyridyl substituents and copper adatoms resulting in twofold copper coordination. Annealing to temperatures exceeding 450 K strongly alters the molecular appearance in high-resolution STM data. This modification was also induced by controlled voltage pulses and related to a deprotonation of the molecule by XPS. Under appropriate conditions a novel binding motif leads to honeycomb structures coexisting with the chain segments. The conformation withstands annealing without large modification.

Chiral kagomé lattice from simple ditopic molecular bricks.

Self-assembly techniques allow for the fabrication of highly organized architectures with atomic-level precision. Here, we report on molecular-level scanning tunneling microscopy observations demonstrating the supramolecular engineering of complex, regular, and long-range ordered periodic networks on a surface atomic lattice using simple linear molecular bricks. The length variation of the employed de novo synthesized linear dicarbonitrile polyphenyl molecules translates to distinct changes of the bonding motifs that lead to hierarchic order phenomena and unexpected changes of the surface tessellations. The achieved 2D organic networks range from a close-packed chevron pattern via a rhombic network to a hitherto unobserved supramolecular chiral kagomé lattice.