Atomic‐Scale Manipulation and In Situ Characterization with Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

Abstract

Scanning tunneling microscope (STM) has presented a revolutionary methodology to the nanoscience and nanotechnology. It enables imaging the topography of surfaces, mapping the distribution of electronic density of states, and manipulating individual atoms and molecules, all at the atomic resolution. In particular, the atom manipulation capability has evolved from fabricating individual nanostructures towards the scalable production of the atomic-sized devices bottom-up. The combination of precision synthesis and in situ characterization of the atomically precise structures has enabled direct visualization of many quantum phenomena and fast proof-of-principle testing of quantum device functions with real-time feedback to guide the improved synthesis. In this article, several representative examples are reviewed to demonstrate the recent development of atomic scale manipulation. Especially, the review focuses on the progress that address the quantum properties by design through the precise control of the atomic structures in several technologically relevant materials systems. Besides conventional STM manipulations and electronic structure characterization with single-probe

Rational synthesis of atomically precise graphene nanoribbons directly on metal oxide surfaces

“…As shown in Fig. 2D, rigid sp 2 carbon-based structure can be confirmed in this case by STM tip-induced manipulation (40). Application of a negative-bias voltage pulse resulted in rotation of the whole molecule without distorting its straight geometry.…”

Lightwave-driven scanning tunnelling spectroscopy of atomically precise graphene nanoribbons

“…Scanning probe microscopy drives progress in materials science through atomically resolved real-space imaging of new compounds and nanostructures 1 , 2 . Yet, its success is not due to atomic spatial resolution alone.…”

Coupling quantum corrals to form artificial molecules

“…The scanning tunneling microscope makes it possible to position adsorbates and vacancies on surfaces with atomic scale accuracy [1]. This approach has been used to explore the limits of data storage [2][3][4][5], to perform logic operations [6][7][8][9], to study chemical reactions at the single molecule level [10][11][12][13], and to study the electronic and magnetic structure of atomically welldefined structures [14,15].…”