title: Thermochemical hole burning performance of TCNQ-based charge transfer complexes with different electrical conductivities.
abstract: Thermochemical hole burning (THB) memory is an ultrahigh density data storage technique based on the scanning tunneling microscope (STM). It utilizes the STM current to induce localized thermochemical decomposition of TCNQ-based charge transfer (CT) complexes and sequentially create nanometer-sized holes as information bits. The writing reliability and hole size depend on many factors, including the properties of the storage materials and the STM tip, and the tip-sample distance and interaction. We have found here that for the high electrical conductivity CT complexes, the hole size (represented by volume) monotonically decreases with the tip displacement increasing in the direction of leaving the sample; but for low electrical conductivity samples, the hole size first increases and then decreases with the tip displacement increasing in the same direction. Subsequent experiments and analyses indicate that the surface deformation induced by the tip-sample interaction and the heat conduction of the metal tip account for such a unique phenomenon.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST), Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Xiaomin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Chunbo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ran
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Hailin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Zhongfan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu