title: Single-molecule-resolved structural changes induced by temperature and light in surface-bound organometallic molecules designed for energy storage.
abstract: We have used scanning tunneling microscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations to investigate thermal and photoinduced structural transitions in (fulvalene)tetracarbonyldiruthenium molecules (designed for light energy storage) on a Au(111) surface. We find that both the parent complex and the photoisomer exhibit striking thermally induced structural phase changes on Au(111), which we attribute to the loss of carbonyl ligands from the organometallic molecules. Density functional theory calculations support this conclusion. We observe that UV exposure leads to pronounced structural change only in the parent complex, indicative of a photoisomerization reaction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States. jwcho@anl.gov
authors.forename: Jongweon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Berbil-Bautista
authors.forename: Ivan V
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Pechenezhskiy
authors.forename: Niv
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: Steven K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Meier
authors.forename: Varadharajan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Srinivasan
authors.forename: Yosuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kanai
authors.forename: Jeffrey C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Grossman
authors.forename: K Peter C
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Vollhardt
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Crommie
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004735:Energy Transfer / Q000528:radiation effects; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D008027:Light; D008956:Models, Chemical; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D009930:Organic Chemicals; D006046:Gold