Soft Metallic Contact to Isolated C60 Molecules

C-60 adsorbed on a monolayer of hexaazatriphenylene-hexanitrile (HATCN) on Ag(111) is investigated by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and scanning tunneling microscopy. UPS and quantum-mechanical modeling show that HATCN chemisorbed on Ag(111) displays metallic character. This metallic molecular layer decouples C-60 electronically from the Ag substrate and simultaneously acts both as template for the stable adsorption of isolated C-60 molecules at room temperature and as soft metallic contact for subsequently deposited molecules.