Controlled manipulation of single atoms and small molecules using the scanning tunnelling microscope

Abstract

This article reviews manipulation of single molecules by scanning tunnelling microscopes, in particular vertical manipulation, lateral manipulation, and inelastic electron tunnelling (IET) manipulation. For a better understanding of these processes, we shortly review imaging by scanning tunnelling microscopy – as a prerequisite to detect the manipulated species and to verify the result of the manipulation – as well as scanning tunnelling spectroscopy and IET spectroscopy which are used to chemically identify the molecules before and after the manipulation that employs the tunnelling current.

Pasteur’s Experiment Performed at the Nanoscale: Manual Separation of Chiral Molecules, One by One

“…Consequently, previous studies have addressed only complete or substantial fractions of monolayers. 18,19 Here we present now the results of the interaction among single [7]H molecules on Cu(111) at initial coverage. Upon cooling a low-coverage [7]H/Cu(111) sample to ∼6 K, molecular diffusion ceases and permits the direct observation of interacting [7]H molecules.…”

“…In order to study the interaction between two individual heptahelicene ( [7]H) molecules on a surface, sufficient mobility is required to facilitate pair formation. This suggests the use of noble metal substrates, which have relatively low adsorption energy.…”

Mapping the site-specific potential energy landscape for chemisorbed and physisorbed aromatic molecules on the Si(1 1 1)-7 × 7 surface by time-lapse STM

“…Towards this aim there has been a focus on using the tip of the scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) to induce atomic and molecular manipulation to build designer nano-structures with many striking results [5][6][7]. Underpinning these works are the ground-state properties of the target atoms and molecules.…”

Single-atom fabrication with electron and ion beams: From surfaces and two-dimensional materials toward three-dimensional atom-by-atom assembly

“…Many of these advances are summarized in a number of recent reviews, and some of the highlights are shown in Figure 2. [31][32][33][34][35] The fundamental limitation of STM-based fabrication is that in many cases, it is limited to low temperatures, with liquid helium temperature (4 K) being the norm, and requiring atomically flat clean surfaces. These approaches are also fairly slow and have limited throughput.…”