Chiral Rare-Earth Molecular Clusters

Molecules containing rare-earth ions attract great attention due to their high technological applications, and molecular clusters formed by rare-earth molecules are of interest to explore for potential applications. Here, we form molecular clusters of La(pcam)3 with quantized sizes composed of 2, 4, and 6 molecules as well as long molecular chains on Au(111) surface. Low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy studies reveal chiral nature of these rare-earth molecular clusters. Mechanical properties of the molecular clusters are investigated with scanning tunneling microscope manipulation as well as imaging using a high bias. We find that all the chiral clusters adsorbed on Au(111) are extremely stable. The electronic structures of the chiral rare-earth molecular clusters are also investigated at the atomic scale using dI/dV tunneling spectroscopy and spectroscopic mapping, which reveal a slight change in the electronic states between pairs of molecules forming the clusters. We propose that such chiral molecular clusters composed of different rare-earth metals may be useful for catalytic, and spintronic applications.