Dresden 2020 – scientific programme

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PRV: Preisträgervorträge

PRV VI

PRV VI: Prize Talk

Thursday, March 19, 2020, 13:15–13:45, HSZ 02

Charge-state controlled imaging of electronic transitions in single molecules — •Laerte Patera — Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, University of Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany — Laureate of the Gustav Hertz Prize 2020

Electron transfer plays a crucial role in many chemical processes, from photosynthesis to combustion and corrosion. However, the way in which redox reactions affect individual molecules and, in particular, their electronic structure, remains largely unclear. Unveiling these fundamental aspects requires the development of experimental tools allowing the observation of electron transfer down to the single molecule level. In my talk, I will present an innovative experimental approach capable of performing tunneling experiments on non-conductive substrates, to map the orbital structure of isolated molecules upon electron transfer. By driving a change in the redox state of a molecule synchronized with the oscillating tip of an Atomic Force Microscope, previously inaccessible electronic transitions are resolved in space and energy [1]. These results unveil the effects of electron transfer and polaron formation on the single-orbital scale, opening the door to the investigation of redox reactions and charging-related phenomena with sub-Ångström resolution.

[1] L. L. Patera, F. Queck, P. Scheuerer and J. Repp, Nature 566, 245-248 (2019)