Study of self-assembly of terpyridyl molecules on metallic surfaces

Abstract

This project proposes the realization of a scientific investigation funded by the BEPE program from FAPESP-Brasil on behalf of the master student, Shadi Passam Fatayer, with the intuit of completing part of his Master's project named "Study of the atomic and electronic structures of self-assembled nanoribbons of tetraphenyl porphyrins on vicinal surfaces" (FAPESP process 2012/16860-6). The project will be developed at the University of Basel on Switzerland under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Thomas Jung, Full Professor in the Department of Physics. In this project we want to establish a better understanding on the physical mechanisms of molecular self-assembling and how can it be systematically controlled. The goal of this project is to understand the growth, topology, topography and morphology of surface-template coordination polymers as they evolve from 2D monolayer islands to the multilayers and surface supported bulk-like structures. The main techniques that will be used during this project will be Low Temperature Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (LT-STM), which probes the self-assemble at the nanometric scale and atomic structures of the system, and photoelectron spectroscopy (PES), that allows probing of the electronic structures. Prof. Jung is an expert on the area of self-assembling of molecules utilizing scanning probe techniques, having been one of the first researchers to observe its behavior through this technique. The student Shadi Passam Fatayer will have the opportunity to gain experience both on molecular self-assembly and scanning probe experiments, a technique that is starting to be explored in our group in Brazil. This will allow not only a gain by the student but also to the whole group as well. (AU)