Self-organized patterns of fullerene on molecular nanotemplate

Row structures and close packed islands of fullerenes controlled by a stable molecular nanotemplate formed via rubrene on Au(111) have been investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy. The fullerene rows are made up of short chains linked by two to four molecules at low fullerene coverage, while they consisted of dimers or trimers with the increase of the coverage and the assistance of further annealing. The close-packed islands of fullerene are described as a hexagonal cubic structure. The growth of the islands can overcome the hindrance of the terrace edges and expand from one terrace to the other without breaking their periodic structures. Published by AIP Publishing.