Regensburg 2025 – scientific programme
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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik
O 42: Electron-driven Processes
O 42.3: Talk
Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 14:30–14:45, H11
Observing the directed motion of a single molecule after dissociation on a surface — •Ilias Gazizullin1, Matthew Timm1, Matthias Krinninger2, Friedrich Esch2, and Leonhard Grill1 — 1Physical Chemistry Department, University of Graz, Austria — 2Faculty of Chemistry, TU München, Germany
Unidirectional motion of single molecules on surface can be achieved via a rare interplay between the surface and the intramolecular chemical reaction [1]. An alternative approach to achieve controllable molecular motion on surface is to induce dissociation of a molecule, resulting in the recoiling motion of the products [2, 3].
Here, we show how orientation of functional groups of an adsorbed molecule can steer its motion after controlled dissociation of these groups. We study single organic molecules with azido groups adsorbed on Au(111) surface by low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The azido group of the adsorbed molecule can be oriented in two possible directions. We applied voltage pulses from the STM tip onto the azido group to induce its dissociation and found that the molecule rotates after dissociation in a specific direction. This directionality clearly depends on the initial orientation of the dissociating azido group, opening new possibilities to induce controlled motion of single molecules on surfaces.
[1] Simpson et al., Nature, 621, 82-87 (2023)
[2] Anggara et al., Sci. Adv., 4 (2018)
[3] Anggara et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 138, 7377-7385 (2016)
Keywords: Scanning tunneling microscopy; Single molecule; Dissociation; Directional motion; Azido