Scanning tunneling microscopy of ordered coated cluster layers on graphite

Abstract
Surfactant stabilized gold clusters have been deposited on graphite and studied with scanning tunneling microscopy in vacuum. Cluster layers with a superlattice constant of ≈31 Å were found, extending over several micrometers. The clusters form a hexagonal lattice which is ordered over distances of about 100 Å. At low sample biases (<0.75 V) the clusters are not imaged, consistent with a Coulomb blockade effect.