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Rubrene is one of the leading organic semiconductors in scientific and industrial research, showing good conductivities and utilities in devices such as organic field-effect transistors. In these applications, the rubrene crystals often contact ionic liquids and other materials. Consequently, their surface properties and interfacial interactions influence the device’s performance. Although rubrene has been extensively studied with multiple structure characterization techniques, a complete description of the structure of rubrene single-crystal surfaces at the molecular level remains elusive. This study elucidates the molecular orientation and arrangement on the surface of rubrene single crystals with sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy and reflection high-energy electron diffraction, respectively. The results confirm the near-surface unit cells with in-plane lattice parameters of a = 7.24 Å and b = 14.3 Å and an out-of-plane constant of c = 26.9 Å. Furthermore, the SFG analysis yields the tilt and rotation angles of θ = 15° and φ = 43° with respect to the crystalline c and a axes, respectively, and an in-plane twist of ψ = 3° for the surface phenyl rings. 

Molecular interactions at interfaces have a significant effect on the wetting properties of surfaces on a macroscale.