Self-Assembly of Gold Nanoclusters on Molecularly Modified GaAs

The elaboration of closed-packed monolayers of Au55(PPh3)12Cl6 clusters on oxidized and non-oxidized GaAs surfaces is reported. The first part of this work describes the use of silanethiol modified GaAs oxide surfaces to trap 18 nm gold colloids and Au55(PPh3)12Cl6 clusters. The surfaces characterized by AFM measurements present high-quality coverage on a quite long range for both metallic species. The second part is devoted to the elaboration of Au55(PPh3)12Cl6 cluster monolayers on non-oxidized p-type GaAs substrates, functionalized with dithiol molecules. AFM measurements demonstrate the presence of closed-packed two-dimensional arrangements of Au55 clusters.