Final Activity Report Summary - NANOCAGE (Imaging, Spectroscopy and Theory of Caged Atoms: A Multi-faceted PhD Training Programme) The NANOCAGE project focussed on measuring and modifying the properties of a variety of fullerene molecules on a range of surfaces, both metal and semiconductor. Particular attention was paid to endohedral fullerenes, i.e. carbon cages with an atom, or molecule, trapped inside them, and the work carried out during the project elucidated important aspects of the chemical and electronic properties of these exotic molecules. A variety of experimental and theoretical tools, including scanning probe microscopy, both scanning tunnelling microscopy and atomic force microscopy, synchrotron-based spectroscopy and density functional theory, were used to study the molecule-substrate and intermolecular interactions. The project was also extended, in the light of scientific developments in the field, to encompass the study of carbon nanotubes, phthalocyanine molecules and novel peapod systems comprising phthalocyanine molecules encapsulated in nanotubes. The key advances stemming from the project included: 1. selective adsorption of C60 molecules on Ge nanowires on Si surfaces 2. conductance measurements on individual Ce endofullerene molecules 3. encapsulation of phthalocyanine molecules in carbon nanotubes, and 4. a comprehensive combined experimental and theoretical study of adsorbed phthalocyanine molecules providing key insights into the changes in electronic and geometric structure induced by adsorption.
