Fluorinated Fullerene Molecule on Cu(001) Surface as a Controllable Source of Fluorine Atoms

A coverage-dependent growth of well-ordered copper halogenide structures as a result of fluorinated fullerene molecule adsorption on Cu(001) surface has been studied by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. The experimental results clearly demonstrate that C60F n molecule on Cu(001) surface loses the fluorine atoms step by step. The gradual detachment of fluorine atoms leads originally to occurrence of two-dimensional gas phase on Cu(001) surface from which F-induced structures start to nucleate over time. The dynamics of further growth of F-induced structures directly depends on an initial coverage of Cu(001) surface by C60F n molecules. XPS and STM studies revealed that a stable cooper halogenide phase (2√2 × √2)-R45° is formed if fluorinated fullerene molecules are placed on Cu(001) surface for a time period of approximately a 100 h. It has been shown that a variation of C60F n initial coverage allows providing a controllable delivery of fluorine atoms to the surface.