Structural investigation of ionic liquid/rubrene single crystal interfaces by using frequency-modulation atomic force microscopy

Frequency-modulation atomic force microscopy (FM-AFM) was employed to reveal the structural properties of a rubrene single crystal immersed in an ionic liquid. We found large vacancies formed by the anisotropic dissolution of rubrene molecules. Molecular resolution imaging revealed that structures of FM-AFM images deviated from the bulk-terminated structure.