title: Image distortions of a partially fluorinated hydrocarbon molecule in atomic force microscopy with carbon monoxide terminated tips.
abstract: The underlying mechanisms of image distortions in atomic force microscopy (AFM) with CO-terminated tips are identified and studied in detail. AFM measurements of a partially fluorinated hydrocarbon molecule recorded with a CO-terminated tip are compared with state-of-the-art ab initio calculations. The hydrogenated and fluorinated carbon rings in the molecule appear different in size, which primarily originates from the different extents of their π-electrons. Further, tilting of the CO at the tip, induced by van der Waals forces, enlarges the apparent size of parts of the molecule by up to 50%. Moreover, the CO tilting in response to local Pauli repulsion causes a significant sharpening of the molecule bonds in AFM imaging.
authors.affiliation: IBM Research - Zurich , Säumerstrasse 4, 8803 Rüschlikon, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Nikolaj
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Moll
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schuler
authors.forename: Shigeki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kawai
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Lifen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Orita
authors.forename: Junzo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Otera
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Curioni
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Neu
authors.forename: Jascha
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Repp
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: Leo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gross
keywords: NC-AFM; Single molecule