title: Nanoscale control of reversible chemical reaction between fullerene C60 molecules using scanning tunneling microscope.
abstract: The nanoscale control of reversible chemical reactions, the polymerization and depolymerization between C60 molecules, has been investigated. Using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), the polymerization and depolymerization can be controlled at designated positions in ultrathin films of C60 molecules. One of the two chemical reactions can be selectively induced by controlling the sample bias voltage (V(s)); the application of negative and positive values of V(s) results in polymerization and depolymerization, respectively. The selectivity between the two chemical reactions becomes extremely high when the thickness of the C60 film increases to more than three molecular layers. We conclude that STM-induced negative and positive electrostatic ionization are responsible for the control of the polymerization and depolymerization, respectively.
authors.affiliation: International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakaya
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kuwahara
authors.forename: Masakazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aono
authors.forename: Tomonobu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakayama
mesh_terms: D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D037741:Fullerenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D016252:Microscopy, Scanning Tunneling / Q000379:methods*; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010316:Particle Size; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D037741:Fullerenes; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; C069837:fullerene C60