title: Controlled lateral manipulation of molecules on insulating films by STM.
abstract: On metallic and semiconductor surfaces functional nanostructures can be built with atomic scale precision using the tip of an atomic force microscope/scanning tunneling microscope. In contrast, controlled lateral manipulation on insulators has not been reported. The traditional pushing and pulling based manipulation methods cannot be used for molecules adsorbed on insulating films because of the unfavorable ratio between diffusion barrier and desorption energy. Here, we demonstrate that molecules adsorbed on insulating films can be laterally manipulated in a controlled way by injecting inelastically tunneling electrons at well-defined positions in a molecule. The technique was successfully applied to several different molecules.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, University of Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany. Ingmar.Swart@physik.uni-regensburg.de
authors.forename: Ingmar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Swart
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sonnleitner
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Niedenführ
authors.forename: Jascha
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Repp
mesh_terms: D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry; D004583:Electrons; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D016252:Microscopy, Scanning Tunneling; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D010316:Particle Size; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000737:chemistry; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D003300:Copper