Scanning tunneling microscopy study of the structure and orbital-mediated tunneling spectra of cobalt(II) phthalocyanine and cobalt(II) tetraphenylporphyrin on Au(111): Mixed composition films

Binary thin films of cobalt(II) phthalocyanine (CoPc) and cobalt(II) tetraphenylporphyrin (CoTPP) were prepared at submonolayer coverage on Au(111)/mica substrates by vapor deposition. All sample preparation and analysis were done under an ultrahigh vacuum. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) constant-current images of CoPc/CoTPP mixtures showed two close-packed surface structures, with different compositional percentages and some disorder. CoPc was also observed exclusively in one-dimensional chains and as single, isolated molecules below 220 K. Occupied and unoccupied orbital energy levels were identified by STM and tunnel-diode-based orbital-mediated tunneling spectroscopy. Occupied energy levels were also confirmed by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. The transient oxidation of the Co d(z)(2) orbital is identified in STM dI/dV(V) curves just negative of the 0 V sample bias for both molecules. Nearly identical constant-current contours are observed over the central Co2+ ions of CoTPP and CoPc, indicating that the attenuation of the d(z)(2) orbital-mediated tunneling current induced by the structure of TPP relative to Pc is at most a factor of about 10. The orbital-mediated tunneling spectra of CoTPP and CoPc are distinctly different and allow these structurally similar species to be differentially identified.