Templating a face-centered cubic (110) termination of C₆₀

Scanning tunneling microscopy has been used to study C60 overlayers on TiO2 (100)-(1 × 3). Initial adsorption preferentially occurs on O vacancies (Ti3+), evidencing a site-specific interaction dominated by substrate-adsorbate charge transfer. At saturation coverage the molecules are incommensurate with Ti3+ sites along [001], suggesting a delicate balance between intermolecular and substrate interactions. The unit cell of the C60 overlayer is 13.8 Å × 10.0±0.5 Å, consistent with the first layer of fee C60(110); molecules also adopt sites in the troughs of the (1 × 3) structure to form the second layer.