Berlin 2018 – scientific programme
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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik
O 64: Focus Session: Molecular Nanostructures on surfaces - New Concepts towards Complex Architectures IV
O 64.7: Talk
Wednesday, March 14, 2018, 16:45–17:00, MA 004
The role of tip reactivity in intramolecular imaging of organic molecules in NC-AFM — •Adam Sweetman1, Sam Jarvis2, Philipp Rahe3, and Philip Moriarty1 — 1School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, U.K. — 2School of Physics, University of Lancaster, UK — 3Department of Physics, University of Osnabrück, Germany
Noncontact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM) is now routinely capable of obtaining submolecular resolution, readily resolving the carbon backbone structure of planar organic molecules adsorbed on metal substrates. However, normally this resolution requires functionalisation of a metal tip by a carbon monoxide (CO) molecule or similar passivating group.
In this work, we show that the same resolution may also be obtained for molecules adsorbed on a reactive semiconducting substrate, and that surprisingly, this resolution is routinely obtained without the need for deliberate tip functionalization [1].
Counter to intuitive expectations, we find that many silicon terminated tips do not react strongly with the adsorbed organic molecules, and we find that only specific highly oriented clusters have sufficient reactivity to break open the existing carbon-carbon bonds [2]. Our results suggest a wide range of tips may be capable of producing intramolecular contrast for molecules adsorbed on semiconductor surfaces.
1. Sweetman, A. et al. Phys. Rev. B 94, 115440 (2016).
2. Sweetman, A. et al. Phys. Rev. B 90, 165425 (2014).