| AVS 58th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition | |
| Electronic Materials and Processing Division | Friday Sessions |
| Session EM+SS-FrM |
| Session: | Surfaces and Materials for Next Generation Electronics |
| Presenter: | Esmeralda Yitamben, Argonne National Laboratory |
| Authors: | E. Yitamben, Argonne National Laboratory R.A. Rosenberg, Argonne National Laboratory N.P. Guisinger, Argonne National Laboratory |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Engineering molecular superstructures on metals opens great possibilities for the control and exploration of complex nanosystems for technological applications. Of particular interest is the use of chiral molecules, such as alanine, to build self-assembled nanoscale structures for the trapping of the two-dimensional free electron gas of a metal. In the present work, molecules of D- or L-alanine were deposited on Cu(111). Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy revealed the formation of a uniform network of hexagonal pores of average diameter ~1.2 nm. Each pore acts as a quantum corral by confining the two-dimensional electron gas of the Cu(111) surface state. Furthermore, excess alanine molecules were trapped at the inner perimeter of the hexagonal pore, and were observed as rotating or immobile spatial states. This study demonstrates the engineering of one of the smallest quantum confined structure, and the dynamics of molecular motion within these potential wells.
Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357