High-Yield Production of Quantum Corrals in a Surface Reconstruction Pattern

Abstract

The power of surface chemistry to create atomically precise nanoarchitectures offers intriguing opportunities to advance the field of quantum technology. Strategies for building artificial electronic lattices by individually positioning atoms or molecules result in precisely tailored structures but lack structural robustness. Here, taking the advantage of strong bonding of Br atoms on noble metal surfaces, we report the production of stable quantum corrals by dehalogenation of hexabromobenzene molecules on a preheated Au(111) surface. The byproducts, Br adatoms, are confined within a new surface reconstruction pattern and aggregate into nanopores with an average size of 3.7 ± 0.1 nm, which create atomic orbital-like quantum resonance states inside each corral due to the interference of scattered electron waves. Remarkably, the atomic orbitals can be hybridized into molecular-like orbitals with distinct bonding and antibonding states. Our study opens up an avenue to fabricate quantum structures with high yield and superior robustness.

On-surface synthesis and characterization of polyynic carbon chains

“…As a result, a confined electronic state was detected at the centre of the pore surrounded by Br adatoms ( Fig. S7 ) [ 28 ]. To obtain the intrinsic electronic properties of PCC, a partially decoupled one by intercalating Br atoms (indicated by the blue contour in Fig.…”

Growth Mechanism of Chevron Graphene Nanoribbons on (111)-Oriented Coinage Metal Surfaces

“…On copper surfaces, bromine is expected to leave the clean surface at higher annealing temperatures in the form of copper bromide. 86,87 ■ DISCUSSION In LT-STM images, the adsorbed Br atoms are usually visualized in the form of individual bright dots 88 (Supporting Information Figure S3), and in surface-supported Ullmann-like coupling reactions, they often remain in the vicinity of the polymers after their release from the molecular precursors, as e.g. during the formation of polyphenylene chains.…”

Formation of an Extended Quantum Dot Array Driven and Autoprotected by an Atom-Thick h-BN Layer

“…Furthermore, the structural quality of the QDs, predominantly being hexagonally shaped (Figure S2), are a clear improvement over recently reported selfassembled atom corrals on bare metal surfaces. 52 In a more general perspective, this work suggests that moirésuperlattices present in 2D material/metal interfaces can be effectively employed to drive porous network formations that are otherwise not achievable, enabling the nanopatterning and the engineering of the electronic properties of such systems.…”