title: Constructing an array of anchored single-molecule rotors on gold surfaces.
abstract: Molecular rotors with a fixed off-center rotation axis have been observed for single tetra-tert-butyl zinc phthalocyanine molecules on an Au(111) surface by a scanning tunneling microscope at LN2 temperature. Experiments and first-principles calculations reveal that we introduce gold adatoms at the surface as the stable contact of the molecule to the surface. An off-center rotation axis is formed by a chemical bonding between a nitrogen atom of the molecule and a gold adatom at the surface, which gives them a well-defined contact while the molecules can have rotation-favorable configurations. Furthermore, these single-molecule rotors self-assemble into large scale ordered arrays on Au(111) surfaces. A fixed rotation axis off center is an important step towards the eventual fabrication of molecular motors or generators.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Y Y
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Z H
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: W F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: S X
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Y Q
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Hofer
authors.forename: H-J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Gao