Bis(salicylaldiminato)Ni(II) Schiff base complexes, grafted on H-terminated Si(100) surfaces, observed by scanning near-field optical/atomic force microscopy (SNOM/AFM)

This paper reports the synthesis and structure of a dipolar nonlinear optical bis(salicyladiminato)Ni(II) derived Schiff base complex, chemisorbed on H-terminated Si(100) surfaces. The existence of a monolayer of the derived complex, chemisorbed on the Si(100) surface is unambiguously confirmed by high resolution core-level XPS and AFM/SNOM analyses. The comparison between the optical SNOM images high-lights the contribution of the monolayer to the local reflectivity of the sample. Angle-resolved XPS data indicate the presence of chlorine head-atoms on the monolayer surface. Altogether, XPS and AFM/SNOM data suggest the formation of a homogeneous, complete, and ordered monolayer self-assembled on the Si(100) surface.