Structural and electronic properties of one dimensional inorganic and organic structures on surfaces

We investigate one-dimensional (1-D) nanostructures formed by deposition of potassium on InAs(110) surface and of pentacene on the vicinal Cu(119) surface. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) reveals the morphology and the long-range ordering of the nanostructures. Voltage-dependent STM images are used to investigate the electronic structure in the real space. The potassium chains give rise to a delocalized continuum of charge density, suggesting their 1-D electronic nature. 1-D pentacene rows, growing beyond the completion of the first layer, do not show a similar behavior. The formation of the 1-D electronic structures is discussed in term of the substrate-adsorbate interaction. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.