title: Atom-by-atom extraction using the scanning tunneling microscope tip-cluster interaction.
abstract: We investigate the atomistic details of a single atom-extraction process realized by using the scanning tunneling microscope tip-cluster interaction on a Ag(111) surface at 6 K. Single atoms are extracted from a silver cluster one atom at a time using small tunneling biases less than 35 mV. Combined total energy calculations and molecular dynamics simulations show a lowering of the atom-extraction barrier upon approaching the tip to the cluster. Thus, a mere tuning of the proximity between the tip and the cluster governs the extraction process. The atomic precision and reproducibility of this procedure are demonstrated by repeatedly extracting single atoms from a silver cluster on an atom-by-atom basis.
authors.affiliation: Physics and Astronomy Department, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Deshpande
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yildirim
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kara
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Acharya
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vaughn
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.forename: S-W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Hla
mesh_terms: D016252:Microscopy, Scanning Tunneling / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D012834:Silver