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Type: 
Journal
Description: 
We study the physisorption of organic oligomers on the strongly ionic ZnO (10 1 0) surface by using first-principles density-functional theory and nonempirical embedding methods. It turns out that the in-plane variation of the molecule-substrate interaction energy and the bonding dipole in the vertical direction are linked up by a linear relationship originating from the electrostatic coupling of the molecule with the periodic dipolar electric field generated by the Zn-O surface dimers. Long oligomers with a highly axial π-electron system such as sexiphenyl become well oriented with alignment energies of several 100 meV along rows of a positive electric field, in full agreement with recent experiments. These findings define a new route towards the realization of highly ordered self-assembled arrays of oligomers or polymers on ZnO (10 1 0) and similar surfaces.
Publisher: 
American Physical Society
Publication date: 
30 Sep 2011
Authors: 

F Della Sala, S Blumstengel, F Henneberger

Biblio References: 
Volume: 107 Issue: 14 Pages: 146401
Origin: 
Physical review letters