Host: The Japan Society of Vacuum and Surface Science
Immobilization of functional molecules on surfaces with controlling the orientations and arrangements is an essential process in developments of various materials and devices for sensing, separation, and others. In this study, using frequency modulation AFM (FM-AFM) in liquid, we revealed that tetraphenylmethane (TPM) molecules which have rigid tetrapod structure form self-assembled monolayers on the surface of HOPG and are promising anchor structures for immobilizing functional groups with perpendicular orientation with respect to the surface. Our results should provide a new choice of immobilization anchor to design molecular-scale structures at the surface of HOPG.
