No abstract

One particularly fascinating vision for charge-operated devices is the controlled assembly of structures from single surface-deposited molecules. Here, we report on the assembly of linear clusters that consist of phthalocyanine (H2Pc) molecules on a Ag(111) surface. The molecules are imaged as well as manipulated with a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Upon deprotonation of every second H2Pc, the resulting HPc molecule exhibits an isomeric bistability which can be used as inputs in logic gates. Combining our STM measurements with density functional theory calculations we show that the HPc isomers exhibit a repulsive electrostatic interaction with adjacent H2Pc molecules which, due to the asymmetric charge distribution on HPc, results in a counterclockwise or clockwise molecule tilt of the latter, thereby defining the logic 0 and 1 of the output. It is shown that information can be relayed along molecule chains over distances equivalent to at least nine molecules.

The on‐surface self‐assembly of molecules to form holey nanographenes is a promising approach to control the properties of the resulting 2D lattice. Usually, planar molecules are utilized to prepare flat, structurally confined molecular layers, with only a few recent examples of warped precursors. However, control of the superstructures is limited thus far. Herein, we report the temperature‐controlled self‐assembly of a bowl‐shaped, acetylated C3‐symmetric hexaphenyltribenzotriquinacene derivative on Cu(111). Combining scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and density functional theory (DFT) confirms the formation of highly differing arrangements starting with π‐stacked bowl‐to‐bowl dimers at low coverage at room temperature via chiral honeycomb structures, an intermediate trigonal superstructure, followed by a fully carbon‐based, flattened hexagonal superstructure formed by on‐surface deacetylation, which is proposed as a precursor for holey graphene networks with unique defect structures.

Upon deposition on a surface, molecules can undergo a plethora of changes, such as reactions with adsorbates, surface atoms and catalytic decomposition. Since different reaction pathways may coexist, spatially averaging...