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Free keywords:
resolved 2-photon photoemission; tert-butyl-azobenzene; metal interfaces; thermal-activation; molecular switches; surface-state; Au(111); light; gold; benzylideneaniline
Abstract:
Time- and angle-resolved two-photon photoemission (2PPE) spectroscopies have been used to investigated the electronic structure, electron dynamics and localization at the interface between tetra-tert-butyl imine (TBI) and Au(111). At a TBI coverage of one monolayer (ML), the two highest occupied molecular orbitals, HOMO and HOMO-1, are observed at an energy of −1.9 and −2.6 eV below the Fermi level (EF), respectively, and coincide with the d-band features of the Au substrate. In the unoccupied electronic structure, the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) has been observed at 1.6 eV with respect to EF. In addition, two delocalized states that arise from the modified image potential at the TBI/metal interface have been identified. Their binding energies depend strongly on the adsorption structure of the TBI adlayer, which is coverage dependent in the submonolayer (≤ 1 ML) regime. Thus the binding energy of the lower interface state (IS) shifts from 3.5 eV at 1.0 ML to 4.0 eV at 0.5 ML, which is accompanied by a pronounced decrease in its lifetime from 100 fs to below 10 fs. This is a result of differences in the wave function overlap with electronic states of the Au(111) substrate at different binding energies. This study shows that in order to fully understand the electronic structure of organic adsorbates at metal surfaces, not only adsorbate- and substrate-induced electronic states have to be considered but also ISs, which are the result of a potential formed by the interaction between the adsorbate and the substrate.
