Structural defects in self-assembled organic monolayers via combined atomic beam and x-ray diffraction

Abstract

We present the results of a combined He atom and x-ray diffraction study of CH3(CH2)n−1SH monolayers self assembled on Au(111) surfaces. By combining these two complementary probes, we have characterized both the surface and the interior structure of the monolayers. In both cases, we find the same structure containing four molecules per unit mesh. However, we demonstrate that there are significant differences in both the diffraction linewidths and the dependence of the linewidth upon chain length for these two techniques.