STM images of multidomain epitaxial graphene on Pt(111) have been combined with a geometrical model to investigate the origin of the coincidence Moiré superstructures. We show that there is a relation between the appearance of a particular Moiré periodicity and the minimization of the absolute value of the strain between the graphene and the substrate for the different orientations between both atomic lattices. This model predicts all the stable epitaxial graphene structures that can be grown on transition metal surfaces, and we have made use of it for reproducing previously published data from different authors. Its validity suggests that minimization of the strain within the coincident graphene unit-cell due to a strong local interaction is the driving force in the formation of Moiré superstructures.

How electronic charge is distributed over a molecule determines to a large extent its chemical properties. Here, we demonstrate how the electrostatic force field, originating from the inhomogeneous charge distribution in a molecule, can be measured with submolecular resolution. We exploit the fact that distortions typically observed in high-resolution atomic force microscopy images are for a significant part caused by the electrostatic force acting between charges of the tip and the molecule of interest. By finding a geometrical transformation between two high-resolution AFM images acquired with two different tips, the electrostatic force field or potential over individual molecules and self-assemblies thereof can be reconstructed with submolecular resolution.

We report a straightforward method to produce high-quality nitrogen-doped graphene on SiC(0001) using direct nitrogen ion implantation and subsequent stabilization at temperatures above 1300 K. We demonstrate that double defects, which comprise two nitrogen defects in a second-nearest-neighbor (meta) configuration, can be formed in a controlled way by adjusting the duration of bombardment. Two types of atomic contrast of single N defects are identified in scanning tunneling microscopy. We attribute the origin of these two contrasts to different tip structures by means of STM simulations. The characteristic dip observed over N defects is explained in terms of the destructive quantum interference.

The chirality of molecular structures is paramount in many phenomena, including enantioselective reactions, molecular self-assembly, biological processes and light or electron-spin polarization. Flat prochiral molecules, which are achiral in the gas phase or solution, can exhibit adsorption-induced chirality when deposited on surfaces. The whole array of such molecular adsorbates is naturally racemic as spontaneous global mirror-symmetry breaking is disfavoured. Here we demonstrate a chemical method of obtaining flat prochiral molecules adsorbed on the solid achiral surface in such a way that a specific adsorbate handedness globally dominates. An optically pure helical precursor is flattened in a cascade of on-surface reactions, which enables chirality transfer. The individual reaction products are identified by high-resolution scanning-probe microscopy. The ultimate formation of globally non-racemic assemblies of flat molecules through stereocontrolled on-surface synthesis allows for chirality to be expressed in as yet unexplored types of organic-inorganic chiral interfaces.