Center for Functional Nanomaterials Seminar

The understanding of the interaction of organic molecules with metal surfaces is crucial for tailoring the desired properties of future devices that can be employed for molecular electronics or biomedical applications. Self-assembly of complex supramolecular structures and charge transfer through molecular films or even through single molecules are some of the properties that have recently attracted much interest both for possible applications and for more fundamental studies. The molecule-surface interaction takes place thanks to the functional groups that constitute the molecule. The choice of appropriate functional groups of the molecules allows their use as building blocks in the fabrication of complicate architectures. In fact, the functional entities can influence molecule-molecule and molecule-surface interactions, governing the self-assembly of the molecules on the surface. In particular, I will report on the characterization by means of Helium Atom Scattering (HAS), X-ray Photoemission Spectroscopy (XPS), Near Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (NEXAFS) and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) of the self-assembly in ultra high vacuum (UHV) conditions of nanogratings of L-methionine molecules on different metal substrates (Ag(111), Cu(111), Au(111), Au(110)). The functional groups in the molecules can also influence their transport properties. I will report on the study of growth and the electronic properties of thin films of 1,4-benzenediamine on Au surfaces.