{
  "abstract": "Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) provide a versatile platform for engineering electronic functionality at the molecular scale; however, achieving precise control over their surface assembly and emergent properties remains a significant challenge. Here, we investigate the growth and electronic behavior of a large nanographene molecule (C₉₆-tBu₈) on Au(111) using two complementary deposition methods: pulsed-valve injection and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/STS) reveal that the deposition pathway governs distinct growth regimes, ranging from highly ordered extended monolayers to isolated molecules and anisotropic stripe-like nanostructures.\n\nA clear size-dependent evolution of the electronic structure is observed: small assemblies exhibit a semiconducting gap on the order of 1 eV, whereas larger assemblies display a finite density of states near the Fermi level. Rather than indicating a fully metallic state, this behavior is more appropriately described as a transition toward a reduced-gap regime associated with increased electronic delocalization. This evolution is attributed to the interplay between quantum confinement, intermolecular electronic coupling, and molecule-substrate interactions.\n\nOverall, these findings establish a correlation between growth dynamics, structural organization, and electronic properties, demonstrating that surface assembly provides an effective route to tune functionality within a single molecular system. This work highlights large nanographenes as promising building blocks for nanoscale electronic and quantum architectures.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Hamza El Kari"
    },
    {
      "name": "Xiao Zhang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Hanna Enriquez"
    },
    {
      "name": "Andrew Mayne"
    },
    {
      "name": "Hamid Oughaddou"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/b56d6hhsjarcp.bib",
  "cited_by": 1,
  "doi": "10.1016/j.apsusc.2026.167373",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "b56d6hhsjarcp",
  "issns": [
    "0169-4332",
    "1873-5584"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://hal.science/hal-05853449v1",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "hal",
      "0.phys"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2204|Surface Chemistry and Catalysis"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7162394453",
  "pdf_url": "https://hal.science/hal-05853449/document",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-05-26",
  "publisher": "Elsevier",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/b56d6hhsjarcp.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-06T12:20:44Z",
      "native_id": "hal-05853449",
      "source": "hal",
      "url": "https://hal.science/hal-05853449v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "hal:0.phys",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Controlled surface assembly and size-dependent electronic properties of large C96 nanographenes on Au(111)",
  "title_text": "Controlled surface assembly and size-dependent electronic properties of large C96 nanographenes on Au(111)",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-07T12:20:25Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/b56d6hhsjarcp",
  "venue": "Applied Surface Science",
  "versions": []
}