Metal-phthalocyanine chains on the Au(110) surface: Interaction states versus<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mi>d</mml:mi></mml:math>-metal states occupancy

Abstract

The formation of long-range ordered organometallic structures has been demonstrated for metal-phthalocyanines (MPcs) with the metal $M$ belonging to the $3d$ series $(M=\text{Fe},\text{Co},\text{Ni},\text{Zn})$ deposited on the nanostructured template Au(110) by low-energy electron diffraction. The interaction of the molecular macrocycles of the regularly spaced MPc chains in the gold channels stabilizes the planar geometry, producing interface electronic states, as observed by high-resolution ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. The MPc interaction with the substrate is further strengthened for FePc and CoPc molecules, where the central metal $d$ orbitals are directly involved in the interaction process giving rise to interaction states close to the Fermi level.