In
order to fully characterize interfacial systems at the smallest
scales, advanced analytical surface techniques have to be employed
to render a complete picture of molecular assemblies. In this study,
we carried out ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) scanning tunneling microscopy
(STM) experiments on subphthalocyanine (SubPc) molecules, which are
self-assembled on a Ag(100) substrate. The UHV STM experiments were
complemented by tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS), surface-enhanced
Raman spectroscopy (SERS), and density functional theory (DFT) calculations.
The TERS spectrum shows a high signal intensity (>600 ADU·mW–1·s–1) due to piezo-driven in-vacuo excitation and collection lenses with large numerical
apertures (NA = 0.4). A new two-dimensional molecular superstructure
of SubPc was discovered to consist of two distinct molecular binding
configurations, both of which interact relatively weakly with the
underlying metallic substrate as revealed by high-signal-to-noise
enhanced Raman spectra. Our results demonstrate the necessity of advanced
Raman techniques such as TERS when precisely probing molecule–molecule
and molecule–substrate interactions.
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