AVS 51st International Symposium
    Surface Science Monday Sessions
       Session SS-MoP

Paper SS-MoP13
Organic Molecules Self Organization on Metal Surfaces and on Insulator Thin Films

Monday, November 15, 2004, 5:00 pm, Room Exhibit Hall B

Session: Poster Session
Presenter: L. Ramoino, University of Basel, Switzerland
Authors: L. Ramoino, University of Basel, Switzerland
M. Von Arx, University of Basel, Switzerland
S. Schintke, University of Basel, Switzerland
T.A. Jung, Paul Scherrer Institute and University of Basel, Switzerland
H.-J. Güntherodt, University of Basel, Switzerland
Correspondent: Click to Email
Single molecules on surfaces are promising objects to overcome the limits of current silicon based techniques. Molecular properties like self assembling and preferential adsorption are specially interesting in order to evolve from top-down manufacturing methods to bottom-up techniques. Formation of a wide variety of molecular self organized structures has been achieved on metal and semiconductor surfaces. Much less is known about the adsorption and self organization of organics molecules on insulators. However, decoupling molecules from the conductive substrate and building-up metal-insulator as well as semiconductor-insulator patterns is very interesting in the perspective of molecular electronics. It has been shown as STM and STS are profitable tools to study morphology and electronic structure of ultra-thin insulating structures on booth metallic and semiconductor substrates. In addition, by mean of insulating films it should be possible to tune the molecule sample interaction by varying the thickness of the insulating layer. We are studying the growth of ultra-thin NaCl films on different metal surfaces. STM pictures clearly show the formation of ordered 2D islands between 1 and 3 monolayer thick and with a characteristic square shape. Their size can be reliably controlled in a range between a few and hundreds of nanometers. Self-organization of different organic molecules deposited on the NaCl/metal system, has been studied for various molecule substituents and surface coverages. The possible molecule-surface interactions leading to self-assembled molecular structures on ultra-thin insulators are discussed for the different molecules and coverages in comparison.