查看文章

Suitable templates to steer the formation of nanostructure arrays on surfaces are indispensable in nanoscience. Recently, atomically thin sp²-bonded layers such as graphene or boron nitride (BN) grown on metal supports have attracted considerable interest due to their potential geometric corrugation guiding the positioning of atoms, metallic clusters or molecules. Here, we demonstrate three specific functions of a geometrically smooth, but electronically corrugated, sp²/metal interface, namely, BN/Cu(111), qualifying it as a unique nanoscale template. As functional adsorbates we employed free-base porphine (2H–P), a prototype tetrapyrrole compound, and tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ), a well-known electron acceptor. (i) The electronic moirons of the BN/Cu(111) interface trap both 2H–P and TCNQ, steering self-organized growth of arrays with extended molecular assemblies. (ii) We report an effective …