Thermally Stable Array of Discrete C60s on a Two-Dimensional Crystalline Adlayer of Macrocycles both in Vacuo and under Ambient Pressure.

ABSTRACT

A periodic monolayer array of discrete C60s was generated on an atomically flat Au(111) surface with the aid of a template adlayer. The template was a two-dimensional (2D) array of molecular pits prepared on an Au(111) surface through 2D crystallization of shape-persistent macrocycles composed of four carbazole and four salphens/Ni-salphens with a 1 nm hollow. Scanning tunneling microscopy imaging under ultra-high vacuum revealed that the square-shaped macrocycles, with 1.5 nm sides, were arranged with a periodic spacing of approximately 4.0 nm on the Au(111) surface, where the orientation and periodicity of the macrocycles were dependent on their chemical structures. After sublimation of C60s onto the adlayer, a single C60 molecule was entrapped in each pit, and an ordered molecular array of C60s was attained with a pattern similar to that of the macrocycles. The periodic pattern of C60s on the surface was thermally stable up to approximately 200 °C, even under ambient pressure. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy suggested the existence of an electronic interaction between the C60s and the Au(111) surface that was influenced by the macrocycle template on the surface.