Do Two-Dimensional "Noble Gas Atoms" Produce Molecular Honeycombs at a Metal Surface?

作者：Wyrick Jonathan; Kim Dae Ho; Sun Dezheng; Cheng Zhihai; Lu Wenhao; Zhu Yeming; Berland Kristian; Kim Yong Su; Rotenberg Eli; Luo Miaomiao; Hyldgaard Per; Einstein T L; Bartels Ludwig^*

来源：Nano Letters, 2011, 11(7): 2944-2948.

DOI：10.1021/nl201441b

• Quantum dots
• molecular networks
• self-assembly
• scanning tunneling microscopy
• adsorption at surfaces
• Cu(111)

Anthraquinone self-assembles on Cu(111) into a giant honeycomb network with exactly three molecules on each side. Here we propose that the exceptional degree of order achieved in this system can be explained as a consequence of the confinement of substrate electrons in the pores, with the pore size tailored so that the confined electrons can adopt a noble-gas-like two-dimensional quasi-atom configuration with two filled shells. Formation of identical pores in a related adsorption system (at different overall periodicity due to the different molecule size) corroborates this concept. A combination of photoemission spectroscopy with density functional theory computations (including van der Waals interactions) of adsorbate-substrate interactions allows quantum mechanical modeling of the spectra of the resultant quasi-atoms and their energetics.

• 出版日期2011-7