Atom-by-atom extraction using scanning tunneling microscope tip-cluster interaction
arXiv:cond-mat/0611099 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.028304
Abstract
We investigate atomistic details of a single atom extraction process realized by using scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip-cluster interaction on a Ag(111) surface at 6 K. Single atoms are extracted from a silver cluster one atom at a time using small tunneling biases less than 35 mV and a threshold tunneling resistance of 47 kOhm. A combination of total energy calculations and molecular dynamics simulations shows a lowering of the atom extraction barrier upon approaching the tip to the cluster. Thus, a mere tuning of the proximity between the tip and the cluster governs the extraction process and is sufficient to extract an atom. The atomically precise control and reproducibility of the process are demonstrated by repeatedly extracting single atoms from a silver cluster on an atom-by-atom basis.
References in corpus (4)
- STM Single Atom/Molecule Manipulation and Its Application to Nanoscience and Technology
- Controlled low-temperature molecular manipulation of sexiphenyl molecules on Ag(111) using scanning tunneling microscopy
- Single atom extraction by scanning tunneling microscope tip-crash and nanoscale surface engineering
- Theoretical aspects of vertical and lateral manipulation of atoms