title: Stepwise self-assembly of C₆₀ mediated by atomic scale moiré magnifiers.
abstract: Self-assembly of atoms or molecules on a crystal surface is considered one of the most promising methods to create molecular devices. Here we report a stepwise self-assembly of C₆₀ molecules into islands with unusual shapes and preferred sizes on a gold-indium-covered Si(111) surface. Specifically, 19-mer islands prefer a non-compact boomerang shape, whereas hexagonal 37-mer islands exhibit extraordinarily enhanced stability and abundance. The stepwise self-assembly is mediated by the moiré interference between an island with its underlying lattice, which essentially maps out the adsorption-energy landscape of a C₆₀ on different positions of the surface with a lateral magnification factor and dictates the probability for the subsequent attachment of C₆₀ to an island's periphery. Our discovery suggests a new method for exploiting the moiré interference to dynamically assist the self-assembly of particles and provides an unexplored tactic of engineering atomic scale moiré magnifiers to facilitate the growth of monodispersed mesoscopic structures.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Automation and Control Processes, Vladivostok 690041, Russia.
authors.forename: D V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Gruznev
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Matetskiy
authors.forename: L V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Bondarenko
authors.forename: O A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Utas
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Zotov
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Saranin
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: M Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Y L
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Wang