title: Forced to align: flow-induced long-range alignment of hierarchical molecular assemblies from 2D to 3D.
abstract: Nanostructured molecular thin films adsorbed on solid surfaces form the basis of numerous applications. Long-range order within adsorbed molecules is very often a desirable property for such systems. In this contribution, we report a simple and efficient method to fabricate well-aligned thin films of organic molecules over a few millimeter squares. The strategy involves use of capillary force in a two-step flow method to induce large-area alignment of multilayers of molecules at the organic liquid-solid interface. Furthermore, we also demonstrate the influence of alignment on the electron transport through these well-aligned thin films using scanning tunneling spectroscopy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Division of Molecular Imaging and Photonics, KU Leuven-University of Leuven , Celestijnenlaan 200F, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Shern-Long
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Zhongyi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Long
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Kunal S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Mali
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Müllen
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Feyter