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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik
O 28: Organic Molecules on Inorganic Substrates I: Switching and Manipulation
O 28.7: Talk
Tuesday, April 2, 2019, 12:00–12:15, H24
Molecular motors studied on surfaces by scanning tunneling microscopy — •Monika Schied1, Peter Jacobson1, Dongdong Liu2, James M. Tour2, and Leonhard Grill1 — 1Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Graz, Austria — 2Department of Chemistry, Rice University, USA
Artificial molecular motors that convert an external energy input into controlled motion have seen great developments in the last decades [1]. While many studies exist in solution, little is known how such functional molecules behave on a surface. Molecules on surfaces have the advantage of a fixed point of reference and confinement in two dimensions making it easier to study the directionality of their motion.
The uni-directional rotation of the motors investigated in this study is based on a combination of double bond isomerisation and helix inversion. This so-called Feringa motor has already been implemented into molecular structures to enable or enhance their lateral translation on metal surfaces [2, 3].
Here, we image single motor molecules on metallic surfaces by low-temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). To obtain insight into the underlying processes, the same molecule is imaged before and after applying an external stimulus, using either light or voltage pulses from the STM tip, and changes in the molecular adsorption are studied.
[1] W. R. Browne and B. L. Feringa, Nat. Nanotech. 1, 25 (2006)
[2] T. Kudernac et al., Nature 479, 208 (2011)
[3] A. Saywell et al., ACS Nano 10, 10945 (2016)