Basic Steps of Lateral Manipulation of Single Atoms and Diatomic Clusters with a Scanning Tunneling Microscope Tip

Bartels, Ludwig; Meyer, Gerhard; Rieder, Karl–Heinz

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.79.697

Cited by 481 publications

(403 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…At a critical separation the Br jumps away from the tip, so the tip then jumps back out to the normal height above the Cu surface. The process is similar that described by Meyer et al 10 for carbon monoxide on Cu at 30 K.…”

supporting

confidence: 85%

Manipulation of atoms across a surface at room temperature

Fishlock

Oral

Egdell

et al. 2000

Nature

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Since the realization that the tips of scanning probe microscopes can interact with atoms at surfaces, there has been much interest in the possibility of building or modifying nanostructures or molecules directly from single atoms. Individual large molecules can be positioned on surfaces, and atoms can be transferred controllably between the sample and probe tip. The most complex structures are produced at cryogenic temperatures by sliding atoms across a surface to chosen sites. But there are problems in manipulating atoms laterally at higher temperatures - atoms that are sufficiently well bound to a surface to be stable at higher temperatures require a stronger tip interaction to be moved. This situation differs significantly from the idealized weakly interacting tips of scanning tunnelling or atomic force microscopes. Here we demonstrate that precise positioning of atoms on a copper surface is possible at room temperature. The triggering mechanism for the atomic motion unexpectedly depends on the tunnelling current density, rather than the electric field or proximity of tip and surface

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supporting

confidence: 85%

Manipulation of atoms across a surface at room temperature

Fishlock

Oral

Egdell

et al. 2000

Nature

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“…This technique opens the way for a variety of technological applications including nanostructuring of surfaces and manipulation of chemical reactions -both of which are important to the fruition of some of the expectations from nanotechnology. While for several types of vertical manipulation the picking up of an atom at one point and dropping it off at another, on the atomic scale, depends on the bias voltage that is applied, for lateral manipulation the magnitude of the electric field is weak [7]. These experiments have raised several questions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Individual atoms and molecules have been manipulated to move both laterally and vertically by this instrument in a number of research laboratories [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. This technique opens the way for a variety of technological applications including nanostructuring of surfaces and manipulation of chemical reactions -both of which are important to the fruition of some of the expectations from nanotechnology.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theoretical aspects of vertical and lateral manipulation of atoms

2002

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Using total energy calculations, based on interaction potentials from the embedded atom method, we show that the presence of the tip not only lowers the barrier for lateral diffusion of the adatom towards it, but also shifts the corresponding saddle point. For a Cu adatom at a (100) microfacetted step on Cu(111) this shift is 0.6 o A . The effect of the tip geometry and shape on the energetics of lateral manipulation was found to be subtle. In the case of vertical manipulation of a Cu adatom on flat, stepped, and kinked Cu surfaces we find an unusual but interesting result. It is found that as the tip approaches the surface, it becomes easier to extract the adatom from the stepped and the kinked surfaces, as compared to the flat surface. This counter intuitive result can be explained in terms of tip induced changes in the bonding of the adatom to its low coordinated surroundings.

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“…Following the invention of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) (Ref. 1) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), 2 such a manipulation has been successfully undertaken for both inorganic atoms (molecules) [3][4][5][6] and organic molecules. [7][8][9][10][11][12] One interesting subject is the exploitation for reversible conductance transitions associated with a molecular reorientation induced by the tip of scanning probe microscope.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface structure of ultrathin copolymer films of ferroelectric vinylidene fluoride (70%) with trifluoroethylene (30%) on graphite

Cai

et al. 2004

Phys. Rev. B

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Surface structure of ultrathin copolymer films of ferroelectric vinylidene fluoride (70%) with trifluoroethylene (30%) on graphite" (2004 The structure and local structural distortions, through the polarization manipulation, of crystalline films of ferroelectric vinylidene fluoride (70%) with trifluoroethylene (30%) [P(VDF-TrFE)] copolymer on graphite were studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). A quasispiral twist in C u C bonds with rotations about the polymer chain axis was observed by high-resolution STM, indicating a surface relaxation of the strained copolymer films. Such a relaxation behavior appears to be linked to the observed local dipole rotations accompanied by the reversal of the local polarization with biasing the STM tip. A structure model is proposed based upon the observations.

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Basic Steps of Lateral Manipulation of Single Atoms and Diatomic Clusters with a Scanning Tunneling Microscope Tip

Cited by 481 publications

References 17 publications

Manipulation of atoms across a surface at room temperature

Manipulation of atoms across a surface at room temperature

Theoretical aspects of vertical and lateral manipulation of atoms

Surface structure of ultrathin copolymer films of ferroelectric vinylidene fluoride (70%) with trifluoroethylene (30%) on graphite

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