Stable and metastable reconstructions at the C₆₀/Au(110) interface

The geometric structure of C60 monolayers on Au(110) has been investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy. C60 rearranges the (11̄0) rows of surface Au atoms into several unique new reconstruction patterns, i.e. (1 × 5), (1 × 6) and stepped (1 × 2). The latter two reconstructions are merely metastable. The stable (1 × 5) reconstruction is characterized by only two adsorption sites, in which each C60 molecule has two ridge Au atoms as nearest neighbours. The changes in the Au reconstruction and the tendency to bind to the most reactive surface atoms indicate strong chemical bonding between the substrate and C60. © 1995.