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Trapping and moving metal atoms with a six-leg molecule

Trapping and moving metal atoms with a six-leg molecule Putting to work a molecule able to collect and carry adatoms in a controlled way on a surface is a solution for fabricating atomic structures atom by atom. Investigations have shown that the interaction of an organic molecule with the surface of a metal can induce surface reconstruction down to the atomic scale 1,2,3,4,5 . In this way, well-defined nanostructures such as chains of adatoms 2 , atomic trenches 3,4 and metal–ligand compounds 5 have been formed. Moreover, the progress in manipulation techniques 6,7,8,9,10 induced by a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) has opened up the possibility of studying artificially built molecular-metal atomic scale structures 11,12 , and allowed the atom-by-atom doping of a single C60 molecule by picking up K atoms 13 . The present work goes a step further and combines STM manipulation techniques with the ability of a molecule to assemble an atomic nanostructure. We present a well-designed six-leg single hexa-t-butyl-hexaphenylbenzene (HB-HPB) molecule 14 , which collects and carries up to six copper adatoms on a Cu(111) surface when manipulated with a STM tip. The ‘HB-HPB-Cu atoms’ complex can be further manipulated, bringing its Cu freight to a predetermined position on the surface where the metal atoms can finally be released. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Nature Materials Springer Journals

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References (22)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2005 by Nature Publishing Group
Subject
Materials Science; Materials Science, general; Optical and Electronic Materials; Biomaterials; Nanotechnology; Condensed Matter Physics
ISSN
1476-1122
eISSN
1476-4660
DOI
10.1038/nmat1529
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Putting to work a molecule able to collect and carry adatoms in a controlled way on a surface is a solution for fabricating atomic structures atom by atom. Investigations have shown that the interaction of an organic molecule with the surface of a metal can induce surface reconstruction down to the atomic scale 1,2,3,4,5 . In this way, well-defined nanostructures such as chains of adatoms 2 , atomic trenches 3,4 and metal–ligand compounds 5 have been formed. Moreover, the progress in manipulation techniques 6,7,8,9,10 induced by a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) has opened up the possibility of studying artificially built molecular-metal atomic scale structures 11,12 , and allowed the atom-by-atom doping of a single C60 molecule by picking up K atoms 13 . The present work goes a step further and combines STM manipulation techniques with the ability of a molecule to assemble an atomic nanostructure. We present a well-designed six-leg single hexa-t-butyl-hexaphenylbenzene (HB-HPB) molecule 14 , which collects and carries up to six copper adatoms on a Cu(111) surface when manipulated with a STM tip. The ‘HB-HPB-Cu atoms’ complex can be further manipulated, bringing its Cu freight to a predetermined position on the surface where the metal atoms can finally be released.

Journal

Nature MaterialsSpringer Journals

Published: Nov 20, 2005

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