Adsorption behavior of iron phthalocyanine on a Ag(110) surface

An investigation on the growth behavior of FePc on a Ag (110) surface is carried out by using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). At an FePc coverage of 3.5 ML, an ordered superstructure (densely packed) with a lateral shift is observed. The densely packed superstructure can be attributed to the substrate commensuration and the intermolecular van der Waals attractive interaction. The in-plane lateral shift in the superphase is specifically along the direction of 110 azimuth. The results provide a new perspective to understanding the intermolecular and the molecule-substrate interactions.