Identifying tips for intramolecular NC-AFM imaging via in situ fingerprinting

Sang, Hongqian; Jarvis, Samuel; Zhou, Zhichao; Sharp, Peter; Moriarty, Philip; Wang, Jianbo; Wang, Yu; Kantorovich, Lev

doi:10.1038/srep06678

Cited by 18 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…The molecule can be stably imaged even using a reactive tip. Our results are also consistent with a recent study of NTCDI molecules on the Si(111)-(7 × 7) surface at low temperature 11 27 .…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

Chemical structure imaging of a single molecule by atomic force microscopy at room temperature

et al. 2015

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Atomic force microscopy is capable of resolving the chemical structure of a single molecule on a surface. In previous research, such high resolution has only been obtained at low temperatures. Here we demonstrate that the chemical structure of a single molecule can be clearly revealed even at room temperature. 3,4,9,10-perylene tetracarboxylic dianhydride, which is strongly adsorbed onto a corner-hole site of a Si(111)–(7 × 7) surface in a bridge-like configuration is used for demonstration. Force spectroscopy combined with first-principle calculations clarifies that chemical structures can be resolved independent of tip reactivity. We show that the submolecular contrast over a central part of the molecule is achieved in the repulsive regime due to differences in the attractive van der Waals interaction and the Pauli repulsive interaction between different sites of the molecule.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

Chemical structure imaging of a single molecule by atomic force microscopy at room temperature

et al. 2015

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“…On the basis of our simulations alone we cannot clearly distinguish between these two tip structures, but a recent theoretical study [33] suggests that electropositive tips such as the H-down NTCDI apex could react strongly with the Si(111) − 7×7 rest atoms. On the basis of the repulsive contrast over both adatoms and rest atoms observed experimentally, and noting the observation of similar contrast on Si(111) − 7×7 for tips prepared in the absence of adsorbed NTCDI molecules [26], we tentatively suggest the OHterminated tip model may be a more plausible candidate.…”

Section: Repulsive-type Tipsmentioning

confidence: 61%

Intramolecular bonds resolved on a semiconductor surface

et al. 2014

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Noncontact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM) is now routinely capable of obtaining submolecular resolution, readily resolving the carbon backbone structure of planar organic molecules adsorbed on metal substrates. Here we show that the same resolution may also be obtained for molecules adsorbed on a reactive semiconducting substrate. Surprisingly, this resolution is routinely obtained without the need for deliberate tip functionalization. Intriguingly, we observe two chemically distinct apex types capable of submolecular imaging. We characterize our tip apices by "inverse imaging" of the silicon adatoms of the Si(111) −7×7 surface and support our findings with detailed density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We also show that intramolecular resolution on individual molecules may be readily obtained at 78 K, rather than solely at 5 K as previously demonstrated. Our results suggest a wide range of tips may be capable of producing intramolecular contrast for molecules adsorbed on semiconductor surfaces, leading to a much broader applicability for submolecular imaging protocols.

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“…The probe structure does not influence the image of molecular adsorbate because the tip-sample distance is such that the second plane of the tip aggregate does not contribute directly to the main tunneling current. The control of the tip apex structure and its orientation with respect to the surface is much less sensitive in STM than in the noncontact atomic force microscopy (AFM) [55][56][57][58], due to the z dependence of the tunnel current variation which is more acute for STM than for AFM.…”

Section: B Stm Image Calculationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adsorption and STM imaging of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on graphene

et al. 2015

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The structural characterization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules adsorbed on graphene is of fundamental importance in view of the use of graphene or graphene nanoribbons for electronic applications. Before reaching this point, one has to determine the structure of the adsorbed molecules. Here, we study the case of benzene, coronene, and hexabenzocoronene on a graphene layer. First, the adsorption properties of single molecules are calculated using first-principles calculations at the level of density functional theory. We benefit from a recent scheme, particularly adapted for weakly adsorbed molecules, allowing us to precisely calculate the van der Waals contribution. Then, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is used to produce images of self-assembled molecules comparing different theoretical approaches to experimental observations. Finally, we consider the imaging of isolated molecules, and we show how the STM tip influences the molecule position by soft mechanical interaction during the scanning process.

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Identifying tips for intramolecular NC-AFM imaging via in situ fingerprinting

Cited by 18 publications

References 57 publications

Chemical structure imaging of a single molecule by atomic force microscopy at room temperature

Chemical structure imaging of a single molecule by atomic force microscopy at room temperature

Intramolecular bonds resolved on a semiconductor surface

Adsorption and STM imaging of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on graphene

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