STM study of mixed alkanethiol/biphenylthiol self-assembled monolayers on Au(111)

Lüssem, B.; Homberger, M.; Müller-Meskamp, B.; Simon, U.; Karthäuser, S.; Waser, R.

doi:10.1021/la052791u

Journal Article

STM study of mixed alkanethiol/biphenylthiol self-assembled monolayers on Au(111)

Lüssem, B.FZJ* ; Müller-Meskamp, B.FZJ* ; Karthäuser, S.FZJ* ; Waser, R.FZJ* ; Homberger, M. ; Simon, U.

2006
ACS Publ. Washington, DC

Langmuir 22(7), 3021 - 3027 (2006) [10.1021/la052791u]

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Please use a persistent id in citations: http://hdl.handle.net/2128/1026 doi:10.1021/la052791u

Abstract: A method is presented for depositing mixed self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of dodecanethiol (C12) and 4'-methyl-1,1'-biphenyl-4-butane (H3C-C6H4-C6H4-(CH2)4-SH, BP4) by insertion of BP4 into a closely packed SAM of dodecanethiol on Au(111). Insertion takes place at defect sites such as domain boundaries or etch pits in the gold surface that are characteristic of C12 monolayers on gold. With a lower probability, insertion also occurs beside defect sites inside dodecanethiol domains. Insertion at defect sites results in domains of BP4, whereas insertion into C12 domains leads to isolated BP4 molecules. The isolated BP4 molecules are shown not to move at room temperature. By comparing the apparent height of the isolated BP4 molecules and BP4 domains, it is proposed that the isolated molecules have the same conformation as in the full-coverage phase. A simple two-layer model is proposed to characterize the current transport through BP4. The decay constant beta for the phenylene groups is deduced from the apparent STM heights of the inserted BP4 islands compared to the STM heights of the C12 closely packed monolayers.

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