Edge-on orientation of alkyl chains on an iodine-covered Au(111) surface studied by infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy

The edge-on orientation of alkyl chains, in which the carbon zigzag plane is perpendicular but the chain direction is parallel to the substrate surface, has been detected for specially designed 9,9-dioctadecylfluorene (DOF) molecules on an iodine-covered Au(111) surface by infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRAS). Using p-polarized light, the methylene symmetric stretching vibrational mode with transition dipole moment mu parallel to the carbon plane has been observed predominantly at 2852cm(-1) compared to the methylene antisymmetric stretching mode with P perpendicular to the plane. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.