1D molecular polymers on surfaces (1D-MANNA)

Abstract

We aim to design, synthetize and characterize 1D molecular chains on surfaces with the unique material properties. First, we will investigate organometallic polymers exploring their magnetic ordering and possibility to control redox states within the chain. Second, we will investigate a possibility to close the band gap of pi-conjugated polymers by proximity of the topological phase transition. In principle, this strategy should allow to overcome the problem of the Peirels transition (the dimerization) to form purely metallic pi-conjugated polymers. We will employ onsurface chemistry under UHV conditions to synthetize molecular chains of desired properties with lengths of tenth to hundreds of nanometers. Their chemical structure will be analyzed by the high-resolution scanning probe microscopy with functionalized probes providing the unprecedented spatial resolution. The scanning probe measurements will be complemented by other surface science techniques (electron diffraction and photoemission) and corroborated by theoretical analysis mainly based on density functional theory.