Weakly bound and strained C60 monolayer on the Si(111)3×3R30°-Ag substrate surface
Abstract
Using scanning tunneling microscopy, we observed the growth and structure of a C60 monolayer on a Si(111)3×3R30°-Ag substrate at room temperature, and found various C60 arrangements with different strain fields in a molecularly flat C60 monolayer. The results are understood by two kinds of molecule-substrate interactions, a weak interaction on the terrace and a strong interaction at the step of the substrate. The weak interaction may not be a pure van der Waals interaction, and the binding energy of a single C60 molecule on the Si(111)3×3R30°-Ag surface is surmised to be 0.8-0.9 eV. The probability of defect appearance in the C60 monolayer increases when the strain energy increases, and a highly ordered defect arrangement is realized probably due to the effective release of strain energy.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review B
- Pub Date:
- May 1999
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevB.59.12627
- Bibcode:
- 1999PhRvB..5912627N
- Keywords:
-
- 61.48.+c;
- 68.35.Bs;
- 61.16.Ch;
- 68.45.Da;
- Fullerenes and fullerene-related materials;
- Structure of clean surfaces