Berlin 2018 – scientific programme
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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik
O 92: Nanostructures at surfaces: Dots, particles, clusters I
O 92.4: Talk
Thursday, March 15, 2018, 11:30–11:45, MA 141
Directional and Angular Locking in the Stick-Slip Motion of Au Islands on a Natural MoS2 Crystal Surface — •Felix Trillitzsch1, Roberto Guerra2, Arkadiusz Janas3, Nicola Manini2, Franciszek Krok3, and Enrico Gnecco1 — 1Otto Schott Institute of Materials Resarch (OSIM), Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany — 2Department of Physics, University of Milan, Italy — 3Marian Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) nanomanipulation experiments have been performed on triangular Au islands (with typical linear size of 25-80 nm) previously grown on a MoS2 surface in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) conditions. In ambient conditions the islands are found to move along well-defined preferential directions, independently of the angle of attack of the AFM probe. Molecular dynamics simulations prove that these directions corresponds to the principal crystallographic orientations of the substrate. Additionally, the islands almost never rotate during manipulation, except for a slight wobbling motion (with an estimated angular oscillation amplitude well below 1°). This is very different from AFM-based manipulation experiments with lattice-mismatched contact interfaces, where the direction of motion is determined by the geometry of the problem and roto-translational motion is observed. Apart from shedding light on the fundamental mechanisms of friction our results may find important applications in the controlled positioning of metal islands as electrodes for molecular electronics.