title: Assembling and disassembling Ag clusters on Si(111)-(7×7) by vertical atomic manipulation.
abstract: Atomic manipulation has been rarely used in the studies of complex structures and a low temperature requirement usually limits its application. Herein we have demonstrated a vertical manipulation technique to reproducibly and reversibly manipulating Ag atoms on an Si(111)-(7×7) surface by a scanning tunneling microscope tip at room temperature. Simple and complex Ag nanoclusters were assembled and disassembled with a precise control of single Ag atoms, which provided critical information on the size of these nanoclusters. The manipulation showed the growth processes of these Ag clusters and even partly unveiled their atomic structures. This technique can form a fundamental basis for further studies of the Ag/Si(111)-(7×7) system and for fabricating functional nanodevices in various metal-semiconductor systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territory, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Fangfei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ming
authors.forename: Kedong
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Jiepeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xieqiu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jinlong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xudong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiao