The structural evolution of cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) thin films grown on a Bi(1 1 1) surface from the sub-monolayer to the third layer has been investigated with low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Two crucial transitions have been identified during the film epitaxial growth: one is the structural transition from zigzag chains to linear dimerized chains in the monolayer regime; the other is the molecular orientational transition from a flat-lying to a standing-up configuration in the multilayer regime. These results are helpful in understanding the growth mechanism of transition-metal phthalocyanine films on semi-metallic surfaces.

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Publisher's Note: Visualizing buried silicon atoms at the Cd-Si(111)-7 × 7 interface with localized electrons [Phys. Rev. B 96, 125410 (2017)]