Modeling nanoscopic formations of C-60 on supporting substrates

Research into the controlled formation of nano-structured cluster-based lay ers on various types of supporting substrates occupies a very prominent pla ce in both the experimental surface physics and in the newly emerging field of computational condensed matter physics, where such processes are modele d via computer-based numerical simulations at the atomic and molecular leve ls. One area of deep interest is the growth of nano-scale formations Of C-6 0 fullerene on metallic and semi-conducting surfaces, which have potential applications in quantum-scale device fabrication. We review the field Of C6 0 adsorption on a variety of substrates, and then report on the highly accu rate numerical simulations that we have performed to model the adsorption o f this molecule on the Si and graphite substrates. We also report on the re sults of our computations of the scanning tunneling microscopy (STM)-like i mages of a C60 molecule adsorbed on a graphite surface to show that no tip- induced states were responsible for the presence of extra features purporte d to have been observed in an experiment on this system. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.