  Understanding nanoscale mechanisms responsible for the recently discovered
ferroelectric nematics can be helped by direct visualization of self-assembly
of strongly polar molecules. Here we report on scanning tunneling microscopy
(STM) studies of monomolecular layers of a ferroelectric nematic liquid crystal
on a reconstructed Au(111) surface. The monolayers are obtained by deposition
from a solution at ambient conditions. The adsorbed ferroelectric nematic
molecules self-assemble into regular rows with tilted orientation, resembling a
layered structure of a smectic C. Remarkably, each molecular dipole in this
architecture is oriented along the same direction giving rise to polar
ferroelectric ordering.
