Organic functionalization of semiconductor surfaces has gained increasing interest due to development of nanoscale devices, especially with bifunctional molecules because of their potential to create versatile multilayers. In this study, the reaction of phenol on the Ge(100)-2�1 surface at room temperature is investigated using multiple internal reflection infrared spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations. Results show that the phenol molecule undergoes OH dissociation on Ge(100) to form a surface phenoxide group. In the IR spectra, each peak is shifted 10-20 cm-1 when the surface is exposed to large doses of phenol. These shifts are explained by a transformation from a lying-down configuration where the phenyl ring interacts with a neighboring Ge dimer, to a non-interacting standing-up configuration. DFT results support this interpretation in terms of adsorption energy and IR peak positions. This study provides a fundamental understanding of the reactivity and configurations of organic molecules on the semiconductor surfaces.

Coverage dependent configurational transformation of phenol on the Ge(100)-2[times]1 surface

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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