Competing thermodynamic and dynamic factors select molecular assemblies on a gold surface

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DOI	Resolve DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.265701
Author	Search for: Haxton, Thomas K.; Search for: Zhou, Hui; Search for: Tamblyn, Isaac; Search for: Eom, Daejin; Search for: Hu, Zonghai; Search for: Neaton, Jeffrey B.; Search for: Heinz, Tony F.; Search for: Whitelam, Stephen
Format	Text, Article
Abstract	Controlling the self-assembly of surface-adsorbed molecules into nanostructures requires understanding physical mechanisms that act across multiple length and time scales. By combining scanning tunneling microscopy with hierarchical ab initio and statistical mechanical modeling of 1,4-substituted benzenediamine (BDA) molecules adsorbed on a gold (111) surface, we demonstrate that apparently simple nanostructures are selected by a subtle competition of thermodynamics and dynamics. Of the collection of possible BDA nanostructures mechanically stabilized by hydrogen bonding, the interplay of intermolecular forces, surface modulation, and assembly dynamics select at low temperature a particular subset: low free energy oriented linear chains of monomers and high free energy branched chains.
Publication date	2013-12-26
Publisher	American Physical Society
In	Physical Review Letters 111, no. 26, 265701.
Language	English
Peer reviewed	Yes
NRC publication	This is a non-NRC publication "Non-NRC publications" are publications authored by NRC employees prior to their employment by NRC.
NPARC number	23003158
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Record identifier	3fa9fc29-7dd6-4cb7-b796-d42171229844
Record created	2018-05-02
Record modified	2020-05-30

Date modified:: 2025-11-13