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Updated: Aug 11, 2026
Fabricating van der Waals Heterostructures with Precise Rotational Alignment
Published on: July 5, 2019
Two-dimensional crystal growth and stacking of bis(phthalocyaninato) rare earth sandwich complexes at the
Tomohide Takami1, Dennis P Arnold, Adrian V Fuchs
1Visionarts Research, Inc., 5-3-22-A301 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0062, Japan. takami@visionarts.co.jp
Abstract:
Initial stages of two-dimensional crystal growth of the double-decker sandwich complex Lu(Pc*)2 [Pc* = 2,3,9,10,16,17,23,24-octakis(octyloxy)phthalocyaninato] have been studied by scanning tunneling microscopy at the liquid/solid interface between 1-phenyloctane and highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. High-resolution images strongly suggest alignment of the double-decker molecules into monolayers with the phthalocyanine rings parallel to the surface. Domains were observed with either hexagonal or quadrate packing motifs, and the growing interface of the layer was imaged. Molecular resolution was achieved, and the face of the phthalocyanine rings appeared as somewhat diffuse circular features. The alkyl chains are proposed to be interdigitating to maintain planar side-by-side packing.
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