title: Sub-monolayer film growth of a volatile lanthanide complex on metallic surfaces.
abstract: We deposited a volatile lanthanide complex, tris(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionato)terbium(III), onto metal surfaces of Cu(111), Ag(111) and Au(111) in vacuum and observed well-ordered sub-monolayer films with low temperature (5 K) scanning tunneling microscopy. The films show a distorted three-fold symmetry with a commensurate structure. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy reveals molecular orbitals delocalized on the ligands of the molecule. Our results imply that this complex can be transferred onto the metal substrates without molecular decomposition or contamination of the surface. This new rare-earth-based class of molecules broadens the choice of molecular magnets to study with scanning tunneling microscopy.
authors.affiliation: Physikalisches Institut, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Wolfgang-Gaede-Straße 1, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Hironari
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Isshiki
authors.affiliation: Physikalisches Institut, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Wolfgang-Gaede-Straße 1, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Jinjie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Physikalisches Institut, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Wolfgang-Gaede-Straße 1, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany,; Institut for Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Edelmann
authors.affiliation: Physikalisches Institut, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Wolfgang-Gaede-Straße 1, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany,; Institut for Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Wulf
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wulfhekel
keywords: molecular films; scanning tunneling microscopy; terbium; volatile lanthanide complex; β-diketonate