Advanced Materials, Vol.20, No.23, 4450-4454, 2008
Electronic Decoupling of Aromatic Molecules from a Metal by an Atomically Thin Organic Spacer
Electronic coupling effects of organic adsorbates to metallic surfaces are examined optically. Covering a Au(111) substrate with an ultrathin (similar to 0.3 nm) nanographene-like layer of flat lying molecules leads to decoupling of further molecular layers to a large extent. Our work suggests that not only inorganic salts or oxides can be used as insulating spacers but also particular organic monolayers.