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Real-space visualization of conformation-independent oligothiophene electronic structure
Benjamen N Taber1, Dmitry A Kislitsyn1, Christian F Gervasi1
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Materials Science Institute, Oregon Center for Optical, Molecular and Quantum Science, University of Oregon, 1253 University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA.
Abstract:
We present scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/STS) investigations of the electronic structures of different alkyl-substituted oligothiophenes on the Au(111) surface. STM imaging showed that on Au(111), oligothiophenes adopted distinct straight and bent conformations. By combining STS maps with STM images, we visualize, in real space, particle-in-a-box-like oligothiophene molecular orbitals. We demonstrate that different planar conformers with significant geometrical distortions of oligothiophene backbones surprisingly exhibit very similar electronic structures, indicating a low degree of conformation-induced electronic disorder. The agreement of these results with gas-phase density functional theory calculations implies that the oligothiophene interaction with the Au(111) surface is generally insensitive to molecular conformation.
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