Surface melting and recrystallization of a self-assembled octanethiol monolayer on Au(111)

The authors have studied the response of a self-assembled octanethiol monolayer on Au(111) to temperature using a variable temperature scanning tunneling microscope. By cycling the sample temperature from room temperature to a point where the monolayer melts and back to room temperature again, the authors observed the formation of a two-dimensional liquidlike phase at 345 K. Upon cooling down from the melted phase, recrystallization takes place first leading to the formation of a monolayer consisting of the (root 3 x root 3)R30 degrees phase and a mixed striped/ disordered phase. Partial desorption takes place during melting of the self-assembled monolayer. (C) 2011 American Vacuum Society. [DOI: 10.1116/1.3551581]