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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 62: Poster Session V: Organic molecules on inorganic substrates: electronic, optical and other properties I

O 62.8: Poster

Wednesday, March 3, 2021, 10:30–12:30, P

Controlling long-distance motion of single molecules on Ag(111) — •Donato Civita, Grant J. Simpson, and Leonhard Grill — Institute of Chemistry, University of Graz, Austria

The motion of single molecules adsorbed on solid surfaces is of fundamental importance in various fields as heterogeneous catalysis, film growth processes, and on-surface polymerization. However, the motion of adsorbed molecules is usually a diffusive process with random changes in the direction of motion, and thus limited control. Here, we show how the motion of single di-bromo-ter-fluorene molecules on a Ag(111) surface can be controlled over distances of more than 100 nm with picometric precision [1]. The molecule moves strictly in one dimension across the surface, driven by an interplay of van der Waals and electrostatic interactions, which are used to repel and attract the molecule. The large spatial extension of the motion, and its astonishing confinement allow the direct measurement of the molecular speed, and to realize a sender-receiver experiment where a single molecule is transferred between two independent STM tips. These results suggest how a single molecule may be aimed toward a stationary target to study chemical reactions in relation to momentum and orientation of the reagent.

[1] D. Civita, M. Kolmer, G. J. Simpson, A.-P. Li, S. Hecht, L. Grill, Control of long-distance motion of single molecules on a surface, Science, Vol. 370, Issue 6519, pp. 957-960 (2020).