Constructing molecular structures on periodic superstructure of graphene/Ru(0001).

We review the way to fabricate large-scale, high-quality and single crystalline graphene epitaxially grown on Ru(0001) substrate. A moiré pattern of the graphene/Ru(0001) is formed due to the lattice mismatch between graphene and Ru(0001). This superstructure gives rise to surface charge redistribution and could behave as an ordered quantum dot array, which results in a perfect template to guide the assembly of organic molecular structures. Molecules, for example iron phthalocyanine and C60, on this template show how the molecule-substrate interaction makes different superstructures. These results show the possibility of constructing ordered molecular structures on graphene/Ru(0001), which is helpful for practical applications in the future.