The nature of alkanethiol self-assembled monolayer adsorption on sputtered gold substrates

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files
LANGMUIR_SAM_STM_CODWYER.PDF(592.85 KB)
Submitted Version
Date
2004-08-12
Authors
O'Dwyer, Colm
Gay, G.
Viaris de Lesegno, B.
Weiner, J.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Published Version
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Abstract
A detailed study of the self-assembly and coverage by 1-nonanethiol of sputtered Au surfaces using molecular resolution atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is presented. The monolayer self-assembles on a smooth Au surface composed predominantly of {111} oriented grains. The domains of the alkanethiol monolayer are observed with sizes typically of 5-25 nm, and multiple molecular domains can exist within one Au grain. STM imaging shows that the (4 × 2) superlattice structure is observed as a (3 × 2√3) structure when imaged under noncontact AFM conditions. The 1-nonanethiol molecules reside in the threefold hollow sites of the Au{111} lattice and aligned along its lattice vectors. The self-assembled monolayer (SAM) contains many nonuniformities such as pinholes, domain boundaries, and monatomic depressions which are present in the Au surface prior to SAM adsorption. The detailed observations demonstrate limitations to the application of 1-nonanethiol as a resist in atomic nanolithography experiments to feature sizes of ∼20 nm.
Description
Keywords
Adsorption , Atomic force microscopy , Gold , Molecular structure , Nanotechnology , Scanning tunneling microscopy
Citation
O'Dwyer, C., Gay, G., Viaris de Lesegno, B. and Weiner, J (2004) 'The nature of alkanethiol self-assembled monolayer adsorption on sputtered gold substrates', Langmuir, 20(14), pp. 8172-8182. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/la049103b
Copyright
© 2004 American Chemical Society. This document is the unedited Author’s version of a Submitted Work that was subsequently accepted for publication in in Langmuir, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review. To access the final edited and published work see http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/la049103b