title: UHV deposition and characterization of a mononuclear iron(III) β-diketonate complex on Au(111).
abstract: The adsorption of the sterically hindered β-diketonate complex Fe(dpm)3, where Hdpm = dipivaloylmethane, on Au(111) was investigated by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). The high volatility of the molecule limited the growth of the film to a few monolayers. While UPS evidenced the presence of the β-diketonate ligands on the surface, the integrity of the molecule on the surface could not be assessed. The low temperature STM images were more informative and at submonolayer coverage they showed the presence of regular domains characterized by a flat morphology and height of ≈0.3 nm. Along with these domains, tetra-lobed features adsorbed on the kinks of the herringbone were also observed. DFT-simulated images of the pristine molecule and its possible decomposition products allowed to assess the partial fragmentation of Fe(dpm)3 upon adsorption on the Au(111) surface. Structural features with intact molecules were only observed for the saturation coverage. An ex situ prepared thick film of the complex was also investigated by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) and features typical of high-spin iron(III) in octahedral environment were observed.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Magnetism, Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence & INSTM RU of Florence, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cimatti
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Magnetism, Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence & INSTM RU of Florence, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Silviya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ninova
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Magnetism, Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence & INSTM RU of Florence, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lanzilotto
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Magnetism, Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence & INSTM RU of Florence, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Malavolti
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia & INSTM RU of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via G. Campi 183, 41125 Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rigamonti
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Magnetism, Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence & INSTM RU of Florence, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Brunetto
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cortigiani
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Magnetism, Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence & INSTM RU of Florence, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mannini
authors.affiliation: CNR-IOM, Laboratorio TASC, Basovizza SS-14, Km 163.5, 34149 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Magnano
authors.affiliation: CNR-IOM, Laboratorio TASC, Basovizza SS-14, Km 163.5, 34149 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bondino
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Magnetism, Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence & INSTM RU of Florence, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Totti
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia & INSTM RU of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via G. Campi 183, 41125 Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cornia
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Magnetism, Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence & INSTM RU of Florence, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sessoli
keywords: Au(111); DFT; STM; UPS; XMCD; XPS; thin films; β-diketonate complexes