Dresden 2026 – scientific programme
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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik
O 35: Organic molecules on inorganic substrates: Adsorption and growth II
O 35.2: Talk
Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 10:45–11:00, HSZ/0401
Self-assembly and electronic properties of functionalized norbornadiene photoswitches on Au(111) and graphene/Ir(111) — •Shreya Garg1, Roberto Robles2, Pedro Ferreira3, Kasper Moth-Poulsen3, Nicolas Lorente2, Meike Stöhr1,4, and Sabine Maier1 — 1Department of Physics, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany — 2Centro de Física de Materiales CFM/MPC (CSIC-UPV/EHU), Donostia-San Sebastián 20018, Spain, SanSebastián, Spain — 3Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, CT, Spain — 4University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons, Switzerland
The norbornadiene/quadricyclane (NBD/QC) system represents a notable class of photoswitches, in which the low-energy NBD isomer can be transformed into its metastable QC isomer upon exposure to external energy. Here, we investigate the self-assembly and electronic properties of a benzoic acid-functionalized NBD on Au(111) using STM, STS, and DFT. Two distinct adsorption conformations are identified; nevertheless, the overall structure of the self-assembled layers remains governed by hydrogen bonding between the carboxyl groups. To further elucidate molecule-substrate coupling effects, we examined NBD derivatives on graphene/Ir(111), which offers a reduced density of states near the molecular levels, thereby providing partial electronic decoupling. This approach revealed differences in electronic properties compared to Au(111), emphasizing the critical influence of the substrate and contributing to the optimization of their switching performance in future electronic systems.
Keywords: molecular photoswitches; STM; DFT