Recently, cluster deposited on self-assembled monolayers have attracted a great interest. Metal clusters interact in many different ways with organic surfaces. The possibility to control the size and morphology of deposited clusters and tune their properties, makes self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) well-suited for studies and applications in nanoscience and nanotechnology. Thus a better understanding of the interaction between clusters, the organic layer and the substrate should be assessed as a starting point towards further possible applications. We report on investigations of low deposition energy (0.3 eV/atom) of gas-phase metal clusters on dodecanethiol self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on a Au(111) substrate. The deposition of pre-formed clusters in the gas phase offers the possibility to control the size and morphology of deposited clusters and tune their properties, unlike single-atom deposition by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) methods, where the nanostructures properties are strongly dependent on the cluster-substrate interaction.

Combining the experimental measurements to molecular dynamics simulations, we obtain a description of the clusters penetration mechanism and a better understanding of the cluster-SAMs interactions.

Leila Costelle*, University of Helsinki, Finland
Tommi T. Järvi, , 
Minna Räisänen, , 
Vladimir Tuboltsev, , 
Jyrki Räisänen, , 

*presenting author