STABLE AND METASTABLE RECONSTRUCTIONS AT THE C-60 AU(110) INTERFACE/

The geometric structure of C-60 monolayers on Au(110) has been investi gated by scanning tunneling microscopy. C-60 rearranges the (1 $($) ov er bar$$ 10) rows of surface Au atoms into several unique new reconstr uction patterns, i.e. (1 X 5), (1 X 6) and stepped (1 X 2). The latter two reconstructions are merely metastable. The stable (1 X 5) reconst ruction is characterized by only two adsorption sites, in which each C -60 molecule has two ridge Au atoms as nearest neighbours. The changes in the Au reconstruction and the tendency to bind to the most reactiv e surface atoms indicate strong chemical bonding between the substrate and C-60.