Self-aligning atomic strings in surface-supported biomolecular gratings

Agustin Schiffrin, Joachim Reichert, Willi Auwärter, Gesine Jahnz, Yan Pennec, Alexander Weber-Bargioni, Valeri S. Stepanyuk, Larissa Niebergall, Patrick Bruno, Johannes V. Barth

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47 Scopus citations

Abstract

We demonstrate the one-dimensional ordering of Co and Fe atoms employing supramolecular templates. Our low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy observations reveal how individual adatoms spontaneously align with a preferred ∼25 Å next-neighbor spacing in self-assembled methionine nanogratings on Ag(111). For Co strings the pertaining equilibrium statistics and dynamics were monitored to assess the underlying long-range interactions with their anisotropic energy landscape. The effect of the surface-state electron quantum confinement on the atomic self-alignment is revealed by tunneling spectroscopy mapping and ab initio calculations.

Original languageEnglish
Article number035424
JournalPhysical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
Volume78
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Jul 2008

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