Molecular Self-assembly on Surface: TPA/Cu(100)

ALVARO CARRERA, LUCILA CRISTINA, NATALIA MURILLO-QUIRÓS, J.ESTEBAN GAYONE, JAVIER FUHR Y HUGO ASCOLANI

San Carlos de Bariloche

Workshop; Workshop in honor of Victor Hugo Ponce: 'Advances in atomic collisions and particle-surface interactions'; 2011

When organic molecules are adsorbed on surfaces, the molecule-substrate interaction added to theintermolecular interaction (H-bond, van der Waals, ) lead to a variety of physicochemical processes, includingcharge transfer, realignment of molecular electronic levels, structural changes of the molecule and substrate,etc. The electronic properties of the organic structures formed at the surface are highly dependent on theseprocesses, marking them very important when looking for applications [1]. The detailed study of the structuraland electronic properties of the metal/organic interfaces is then important from both fundamental andtechnological point of view.In this work we study the adsorption properties and self-assembly of terephthalicacid (TPA) adsorbed on the Cu(100) surface. The TPA molecule consists of a benzenic ring with twoopposite carboxyl groups. This molecule has been shown to form complexes with adsorbed Fe atoms,leading to ordered magnetic networks [2]. They can also lead to self-assembly layers with exposed carboxylgroups [3].We will present an overview of the experimental (using several techniques: STM, LEED, ISS) andtheoretical (DFT) studies performed in order to characterize the different ordered phases that appears inthe TPA/Cu(100) system.References:[1] R. Otero et. al., Nature Chemistry 2 (2010) 374.[2] P. Gambardellaet.al., Nature materials 8 (2009) 189.[3] L. Cristina et. Al. Poster.