Berlin 2018 – scientific programme

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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 54: Focus Session: Molecular Nanostructures on surfaces - New Concepts towards Complex Architectures III

O 54.4: Talk

Wednesday, March 14, 2018, 11:30–11:45, MA 004

Kinetic control in molecular self-assembly on an insulating surface — •Lev Kantorovich¹, Chiara Paris¹, Andrea Floris^1,2, Simon Aeschlimann³, Julia Neff³, Felix Kling³, and Angelika Kühnle³ — ¹King's College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, U.K. — ²University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln LN6 7TS, U.K. — ³Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Duesbergweg 10-14, 55099 Mainz, Germany

We present a new route for creating a set of metastable molecular architectures on surfaces. This approach relies on two key aspects: First, the suitable choice of the initial state of the molecules triggers a well-defined transformation path. Second, the observed path is entirely controlled by kinetics rather than thermodynamics. The feasibility of this route is demonstrated using a model system of dihydroxybenzoic acid molecules on the (10.4) surface of calcite. An initial state of molecular dimers undergoes, upon increase of temperature, a series of structural transitions from clusters to ordered striped and then dense networks, and finally to a disordered structure. Combining high-resolution dynamic atomic force microscopy experiments and density-functional theory calculations, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the fundamental principles driving this sequence of transitions. Our study opens new avenues based on kinetic control as a promising strategy for achieving tailored molecular architectures on surfaces.