title: Tuning molecular self-assembly on bulk insulator surfaces by anchoring of the organic building blocks.
abstract: Molecular self-assembly constitutes a versatile strategy for creating functional structures on surfaces. Tuning the subtle balance between intermolecular and molecule-surface interactions allows structure formation to be tailored at the single-molecule level. While metal surfaces usually exhibit interaction strengths in an energy range that favors molecular self-assembly, dielectric surfaces having low surface energies often lack sufficient interactions with adsorbed molecules. As a consequence, application-relevant, bulk insulating materials pose significant challenges when considering them as supporting substrates for molecular self-assembly. Here, the current status of molecular self-assembly on surfaces of wide-bandgap dielectric crystals, investigated under ultrahigh vacuum conditions at room temperature, is reviewed. To address the major issues currently limiting the applicability of molecular self-assembly principles in the case of dielectric surfaces, a systematic discussion of general strategies is provided for anchoring organic molecules to bulk insulating materials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, 115 South 1400 East, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0830, USA. rahe@physics.utah.edu.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rahe
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kittelmann
authors.forename: Julia L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Neff
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nimmrich
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reichling
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Maass
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kühnle
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D008670:Metals / Q000737:chemistry*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D008670:Metals; D009930:Organic Chemicals
keywords: insulating surfaces; molecular adsorption; molecule-surface interactions; non-contact atomic force microscopy; self-assembly