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Intermolecular dehalogenation reactions on passivated germanium(001)

We present results of experiments to reproduce the bottom-up formation of covalently bonded molecular nanostructures from single molecular building blocks, previously demonstrated on various coinage metal surfaces, on a technologically more relevant semiconductor surface: Ge(001). Chlorine was established as the most stable passivation agent for this surface, successfully enabling diffusion of the organic molecular building blocks. Subsequent thermal activation of the intermolecular dehalogenation reactions on this surface resulted in the desired covalently connected molecules, however showing poor network quality when compared to those formed on noble metal substrates.