Surface adsorption of C60 affects its chemical and electronic properties. Numerous studies have reported observation of bright and dark fullerenes on metal surfaces that suggest extensive surface reconstruction, however, the underpinning mechanism of the reconstruction remains under debate. Here we report tip-functionalised non-contact atomic force microscope (ncAFM) measurements which unambiguously reveal that C60 fullerenes adsorb with three well-defined adsorption heights on the Cu(111) surface, consistent with theoretical reports of top-layer hollow site, single-atom vacancies, and surface nanopits. Using single molecule resolution Δf(z) measurements we identify well defined adsorption heights specific to each site, confirming the presence of a complex vacancy model for C60 monolayers on metal surfaces.
@article{arxiv.2110.15838,
title = {Origin of C$_{60}$ surface reconstruction resolved by atomic force microscopy},
author = {Leonardo Forcieri and Simon Taylor and Philip Moriarty and Samuel P Jarvis},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2110.15838},
year = {2021}
}