Berlin 2015 – scientific programme

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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 81: Gerhard Ertl Young Investigator Award

O 81.4: Talk

Thursday, March 19, 2015, 12:00–12:30, MA 042

A surface science route towards fully controlled single molecule manipulation — •Christian Wagner — Peter Grünberg Institut (PGI-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany — JARA-Fundamentals of Future Information Technology

Exploring the potential of molecular nanotechnology requires accurate manipulation of large functional molecules. For this purpose, the surface science approach of using a low-temperature scanning probe microscope is currently without alternatives. Still, reliable control requires knowledge of the potential energy surface (PES) experienced by the molecule. In my talk I will outline how the controlled manipulation of organic molecules, in combination with sensitive force-detection, yields new insights into the energetics of adsorption. The freedom to position the tip-attached molecule in any feasible geometry, even far above the surface, allows to reconstruct the entire adsorption potential, from equilibrium height [1] to the asymptotic regime of weak van der Waals interaction [2]. The controlled extraction of a molecule from a monolayer yields complementary information about the intermolecular potential. By comparing differently sized molecules we study the transferability and scalability of experimentally determined molecule-surface potentials. Iteratively improving our knowledge of the PES through more and more precise manipulation, atomic level control over complex molecules might soon become reality.

[1] Wagner, Fournier, Tautz, Temirov, PRL 109, 076102 (2012).

[2] Wagner, Fournier, Ruiz, Li, Müllen, Rohlfing, Tkatchenko, Temirov, Tautz, Nat. Commun. 5, 5568 (2014).