Image potential states mediated STM imaging of cobalt phthalocyanine on NaCl/Cu(100).

The adsorption and electronic properties of isolated cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) molecule on an ultrathin layer of NaCl have been investigated. High-resolution STM images give a detailed picture of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of an isolated CoPc. It is shown that the NaCl ultrathin layer efficiently decouples the interaction of the molecules from the underneath metal substrate, which makes it an ideal substrate for studying the properties of single molecules. Moreover, strong dependence of the appearance of the molecules on the sample bias in the region of relatively high bias (> 3.1 V) is ascribed to the image potential states (IPSs) of NaCl/Cu(100), which may provide us with a possible method to fabricate quantum storage devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]