Manipulating atoms using scanning probe microscopy

Abstract

Manipulating species using Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) is an important discipline in the field of bottom-up fabrication, which facilitates nano-mechanics and electron dynamics investigations. Previous low temperature manipulation highlights include the construction of quantum dots, nano-wires and quantum corrals, all of which began in 1989 with Don Eigler’s iconic writing of I-B-M using 35 xenon atoms. Since then, the field has developed, and we now push, pull, hop, excite, desorb, rotate and dissociate molecules, even managing to induce multiple different stages of a chemical reaction. Despite these successes, precise measurement of the forces, energetics, energy loss processes, coupling efficiencies, and the heating dynamics during atom manipulations, has yet to be achieved. To address these issues and advance this field’s range of application to technologically relevant temperatures, i.e. room temperature (RT) and above, thermal energies role as a control parameter during manipulation is investigated. For the first time, controllable, repeatable and atomically precise STM manipulations have been performed at RT and above, and, using a simultaneously nc-AFM/STM operating with sub-angstrom oscillation amplitudes, the vertical component of the forces present are quantified.