Diffusivity and adlayer formation of C60 on oxygen decorated moiré patterned graphene on Ru(0001)

The dynamic mobility and placement of buckminsterfullerene (C60) molecules on moiré-patterned graphene as oxygen atoms are adsorbed across the interface are illustrated in this work. The diffusivity of C60 molecules is shown to be greatly reduced on oxygen-decorated epitaxial graphene grown on Ru(0001), and thin films of C60 grown on O/graphene/Ru(0001) are observed to be disordered compared to the commensurate packing demonstrated on pristine graphene/Ru(0001). Previously well-ordered C60 domains are observed to disorder upon scattering O(3P) onto the surface. Overall, the results demonstrate the role that trace coverages (<1%) of atomic oxygen play in limiting the growth of well-ordered thin films on moiré-patterned materials, materials that show promise as platforms for quantum devices, sensors, and next-generation catalysts. Furthermore, STM images presented herein illustrate a new direction in molecular scattering in which on-surface outcomes are visualized with angstrom-level precision after exposure to supersonic molecular beams.