Ordered assembling of Co tetra phenyl porphyrin on oxygen-passivated Fe(001): from single to multilayer films

Tetra-phenyl prophyrins (TPP) are an interesting class of organic molecules characterized by a ring structure with a metal ion in their centre. An ordered growth of such molecules can be obtained even on metallic substrates by means of a proper modification of the reactive interface, as we demonstrated for ZnTPP molecules coupled to oxygen-passivated Fe(001) [G. Bussetti et al. Appl. Surf. Sci. 390, 856 (2016)]. More recently, we focused on CoTPP molecules, characterized by a not nil magnetic moment and therefore of potential interest for magnetic applications. As in the ZnTPP case, our results for one monolayer coverage report the formation of an ordered assembly of flat-lying molecules. However, some differences between the two molecular species are observed in the packing scheme and in the degree of electronic interaction with the substrate. With the aim of reaching, also for CoTPP, a comprehensive view of molecular organization on Fe, we complement here our previous investigations by following the growth of the CoTPP film for increasing coverage, showing that an ordered stacking of such molecules is indeed realized at least up to four molecular layers