Patterned nucleation control in vacuum deposition of organic molecules

We report a generally applicable method to pattern organic molecules on mesoscopic scales. In our method, organic molecular beam deposition was conducted on substrate surfaces prepatterned with materials to which the organic molecules have larger binding energies in comparison to the substrate. Fully uniform nucleation control at these predefined locations can be achieved by an appropriate selection of the growth parameters including temperature and deposition rate. The physical mechanisms involved are studied by Monte Carlo simulations and stand in good agreement with the experimental findings.