Footprint organization of chiral molecules on metallic surfaces

UÑAC, R.O.; GIL RABAZA, A.V.; VIDALES, A M; ZGRABLICH, GIORGIO

Bariloche

Conferencia; 13th International Conference on Solid Films and Surfaces; 2006

Centro Atomico Bariloche

We study the behavior of chiral molecules on clean metallic surfaces using a gas lattice model and Monte Carlo simulation. The aim is to simulate the structures (footprints and organization) that molecules form on the surface as they adsorb at a constant temperature. These features constitute different phases that have been observed in experiments by other authors through different techniques. Here we use a simple monomer adsorption model, in which each monomer may adsorb on the sites of the metallic lattice, taking into account inhibition effects and blockage of neighboring adsorptive sites (steric effects). These adsorption rules represent the enantiomeric character of the adsorbed species. We perform a systematic study of the different phases that form as coverage is increased and temperature is kept constant in order to explain the adsorption features experimentally found by others. We compare results with other models.