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Fabrication and Characterization of Ordered Atomic-scale Structures – A Step towards Future Nanoscale Technology

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Trends in Nanophysics

Part of the book series: Engineering Materials ((ENG.MAT.))

Abstract

The quest of a reliable method for fabricating ordered atomic-scale structures is a prequisite for future atomic-scale technology. The interest in such nanostructured materials, consisting of building blocks of a small number of atoms or molecules, arises from their promising new optic, catalytic, magnetic and electronic poperties, which are fundamentally different from their macroscopic bulk counterparts: small is different. Here we review selected examples concerning atomic and supramolecular self-assembly investigated by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). (i) The self-assembly and the melting of a two-dimensional array of individual Ce adatoms (the smallest possible building block) on a metal surface based on long-range interactions between adatoms mediated by surface state electrons. Ce is a magnetic atom, and such hexagonal superlattices of magnetic adatoms might be useful for the development of future atomic-scale magnetic devices. (ii) The reduction of the superconducting energy gap in ultrathin Pb islands grown on Si(111), when the thickness is reduced down to a few atomic with monolayers (MLs). (iii) The conservation of chirality in a hierarchical supramolecular self-assembly of pentagonal symmetry of the organic molecule rubrene on a reconstructed Au(111) surface. We show the spontaneous chiral resolution of the racemate into disjoint homochiral complex architectures and demonstrate the ability to monitor directly the evolution of chiral recognition processes on the molecular and supramolecular level. (iv) Taking advantage of inelastic electron tunneling processes, we excite luminescence from C60 and C70 molecules in the surface layer of fullerene nanocrystals self-assembled on an ultrathin NaCl film on Au(111). The observed fluorescence and phosphorescence spectra are found to be characteristic for the two molecular species, leading to unambiguous chemical recognition on the molecular scale.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank M. Ternes, C. Weber, M.-C. Blüm, E. Ćavar, M. Pivetta, F. Patthey, F. Silly, J. P. Pelz, T. Giamarchi, F. Mila, M. Chergui, C. Brun, I. P. Hong, C. Rossel, N. N. Negulyaev, V. S. Stepanyuk, L. Niebergall, P. Bruno, I. Yu Sklyadneva, X. Zubizarreta, R. Heid, V. M. Silkin, P. M. Echenique, K. P. Bohnen, and E. V. Chulkov for a very fruitful and stimulating collaboration. This work has been supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

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  1. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institut de Physique de la Matière Condensée, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Wolf-Dieter Schneider

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  1. Physics (INFIM), National Institute of Materials, Atomistilor St. 105, Bucuresti, 077125, Romania

    Victor Bârsan

  2. Physics (INFIM), National Institute of Materials, Atomistilor St. 105, Bucuresti, 077125, Romania

    Alexandru Aldea

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Schneider, WD. (2010). Fabrication and Characterization of Ordered Atomic-scale Structures – A Step towards Future Nanoscale Technology. In: Bârsan, V., Aldea, A. (eds) Trends in Nanophysics. Engineering Materials. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12070-1_1

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