Growth and evolution of perylene thin films on Cu(110)

The growth of ordered perylene structures on a Cu(110) surface has been studied by low-energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy. Submonolayer STM images show a centered structure with the molecular plane parallel to the substrate. A sequence of STM images indicates molecular diffusion even at room temperature. The monolayer-covered surface shows a c(8 x 4) periodicity, which transfers into a ( (3)(-2) (1)(3)) structure on annealing at 450 K. On further increasing the surface coverage at room temperature, on top of the c(8 x 4) structure, an ordered multilayer structure grows with molecular rows aligned along the <110> azimuth.