Atom beam triangulation of organic layers at 100 meV normal energy: self-assembled perylene on Ag(1 1 0) at room temperature

Highlights: • A new technique to monitor on-line, the growth and organization of organic molecules. • Atom beam triangulation points directions where the molecules align to each other. • The contrast is given by the variation of the width of the scattering pattern. • It is non-destructive and detects early stages of the organization. • The system investigated is self-assembly of perylene on Ag(1 1 0) at room temperature. - Abstract: The controlled growth of organic layers on surfaces is still waiting for an in-situ reliable technique that would allow their quality to be monitored and improved. Here we show that the growth of a perylene monolayer deposited on Ag(1 1 0) at room temperature can be tracked with low energy atoms in a regime where the energy perpendicular to the layer is less than 0.1 eV and below the organic film damage threshold. The image processing required for this atom triangulation technique is described in detail.