Features of the fluorination of the Au(111) surface by fluorofullerene molecules

The possibility of using C$_{60}$F$_{48}$ fluorofullerene molecules as sources of fluorine in reactions involving Au(111) has been demonstrated. Ultrahigh-vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies have shown that C$_{60}$F$_{48}$ molecules lose some fluorine atoms with time, forming molecules with the stoichiometric composition close to C$_{60}$F$_{36}$ fluorofullerene, which is confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data. The interaction of fluorine with the Au(111) surface occurs only under islands formed by fluorofullerene molecules losing some fluorine atoms. It has been shown that a C$_{60}$F$_{18}$ molecule does not react with the Au(111) surface. At the submonolayer coating of the gold surface with C$_{60}$F$_{18}$ fluorofullerene, the “herringbone” ($22 \times \sqrt 3 $) reconstruction characteristic of the clean Au(111) surface remains unchanged both in the region free of formed fluorofullerene islands and under them, and C$_{60}$F$_{18}$ molecules keep their initial configuration in time.