Efficient photogeneration of nonacene on nanostructured graphene

The on-surface photogeneration of nonacene from a-bisdiketone precursors deposited on nanostructured epitaxial graphene grown on Ru(0001) has been studied by means of low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. The presence of an unoccupied surface state, spatially localized in t...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Ayani, Cosme, Pisarra, Michele, Urgel, José, Navarro, Juan Jesús, Díaz Blanco, Cristina, Hayashi, Hironobu, Yamada, Hiroko, Calleja, Fabián, Miranda, Rodolfo, Fasel, Román, Martín, Fernando, Vázquez de Parga, Amadeo
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/91067
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/91067
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:544
Photogeneration
Nonacene
Graphene
LT-STM
DFT
TD-DFT
Química física (Química)
2307 Química Física
Descripción
Sumario:The on-surface photogeneration of nonacene from a-bisdiketone precursors deposited on nanostructured epitaxial graphene grown on Ru(0001) has been studied by means of low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. The presence of an unoccupied surface state, spatially localized in the regions where the precursors are adsorbed, and energetically accessible in the region of the electromagnetic spectrum where n–p* transitions take place, allows for a 100% conversion of the precursors into nonacenes. With the help of state-of-the-art theoretical calculations, we show that such a high yield is due to the effective population of the surface state by the incoming light and the ensuing electron transfer to the unoccupied states of the precursors through an inelastic scattering mechanism. Our findings are the experimental confirmation that surface states can play a prominent role in the surface photochemistry of complex molecular systems, in accordance with early theoretical predictions made on small molecules.