Orientation and stability of a bi-functional aromatic organic molecular adsorbate on silicon

K M O'Donnell; H Hedgeland; G Moore; A Suleman; M Siegl; L Thomsen; O Warschkow; S R Schofield

doi:10.1039/c6cp04328c

Orientation and stability of a bi-functional aromatic organic molecular adsorbate on silicon

Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2016 Oct 5;18(39):27290-27299. doi: 10.1039/c6cp04328c.

Authors

K M O'Donnell¹, H Hedgeland², G Moore³, A Suleman³, M Siegl³, L Thomsen⁴, O Warschkow⁵, S R Schofield³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, Astronomy and Medical Radiation Science, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia.
² London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, London, WC1H 0AH, UK. s.schofield@ucl.ac.uk.
³ London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, London, WC1H 0AH, UK. s.schofield@ucl.ac.uk and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
⁴ Australian Synchrotron, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia.
⁵ Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.

PMID: 27722539
DOI: 10.1039/c6cp04328c

Abstract

In this work we combine scanning tunneling microscopy, near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and density functional theory to resolve a long-standing confusion regarding the adsorption behaviour of benzonitrile on Si(001) at room temperature. We find that a trough-bridging structure is sufficient to explain adsorption at low coverages. At higher coverages when steric hindrance prevents the phenyl ring lying flat on the surface, the 2+2 cycloaddition structure dominates.