Electronic decoupling and templating of Co nanocluster arrays on the boron nitride nanomesh

Positioning nanostructures and functional molecules at surfaces and engineering their local coupling behavior is a key challenge in nanotechnology. The recently discovered BN nanomesh on the Rh(111) surface is a potential candidate to combine both properties, templating on the nanometer-scale and electronic decoupling. By means of low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy experiments we demonstrate this advantageous combination for the case of Co nanoclusters, which can be ordered in a hexagonal nanoarray with a nearest neighbor distance of 3.2 nm on the BN nanomesh. The detection of a Coulomb gap of approximate to 160 meV proves the electronic decoupling of the clusters from the rhodium substrate. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.