title: Origin of High-Resolution IETS-STM Images of Organic Molecules with Functionalized Tips.
abstract: Recently, the family of high-resolution scanning probe imaging techniques using decorated tips has been complemented by a method based on inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (IETS). The new technique resolves the inner structure of organic molecules by mapping the vibrational energy of a single carbon monoxide (CO) molecule positioned at the apex of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip. Here, we explain high-resolution IETS imaging by extending a model developed earlier for STM and atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging with decorated tips. In particular, we show that the tip decorated with CO acts as a nanoscale sensor that changes the energy of its frustrated translation mode in response to changes of the local curvature of the surface potential. In addition, we show that high resolution AFM, STM, and IETS-STM images can deliver information about the charge distribution within molecules deposited on a surface. To demonstrate this, we extend our mechanical model by taking into account electrostatic forces acting on the decorated tip in the surface Hartree potential.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., Cukrovarnická 10, 162 00 Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Prokop
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hapala
authors.affiliation: Peter Grünberg Institut (PGI-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany and Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA)-Fundamentals of Future Information Technology, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Ruslan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Temirov
authors.affiliation: Peter Grünberg Institut (PGI-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany and Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA)-Fundamentals of Future Information Technology, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: F Stefan
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Tautz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., Cukrovarnická 10, 162 00 Prague, Czech Republic and Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University 2-1, Yamada-Oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jelínek