Abstract
The inter- and intramolecular ordering of the trimetallic nitride endohedral fullerene Dy3N@C80 with
icosahedral cage symmetry Ih on Cu(111) has been studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and
synchrotron-based X-ray photoelectron diffraction (XPD). Dy3N@C80 (Ih) is found to form ordered islands
consisting of domains of equally oriented molecules. As for C60 on the same substrate, the cage is facing
with a hexagon towards the surface which is however slightly tilted for C80. The endohedral nitrogen atom
remains at a position close to the geometrical center of the cage. Resonant XPD on the MV edge shows that
the encaged Dy3N unit takes well-defined orientations with respect to the C80 cage and the Cu(111)
substrate.