Scanning tunnelling microscopy of fullerenes on metal and semiconductor surfaces

The current state of the ultra-high vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) of fullerene molecules is reviewed with the use of the authors' work. Emphasis is placed on the interaction of the C₆₀ and C₇₀ fullerenes, separately or in mixture, with semiconductor [Si(111)-7×7 and Si(100)-2×1] and metal [Cu(111)-1×1 and Ag(111)-1×1] surfaces. Using STM enables the fullerene adsorption geometry and the corresponding surface reconstruction to be directly observed and, at high resolutions, reveals intramolecular structures which are analyzed theoretically within the local charge distribution model. Results on the ordered growth of fullerene films on metal and semiconductor surfaces are presented and discussed.