Work

Observing single-atom diffusion at a molecule-metal interface

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: The dynamics at the interface between a close-packed porphyrin monolayer and Au(111) is investigated by time-dependent scanning tunneling microscopy, detecting the motion of single-interface adatoms in real space. Imaging sequences reveal predominant switching of the molecular appearance in adjacent molecules, pointing to a spatial correlation that is consistent with adatom diffusion from one molecule to the next. In some cases, the number of switching molecules is drastically increased, indicating collective switching events. In addition to the thermally induced motion of adatoms at the interface, also voltage pulses from the microscope tip can induce the process---revealing different yields in agreement with the model of adatom hopping.

Source: Physical review. B./Physical review. B

DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.94.035416

Authors: Johannes Mielke, Jesús Martínez-Blanco, Maike V. Peters, Stefan Hecht, Leonhard Grill

Institutions: Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, University of Graz

Language: English

Topic: Surface Chemistry and Catalysis

Subfield: Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

Field: Chemistry

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: European Commission

Awards: Alternative Routes Towards Information Storage and Transport at the Atomic and Molecular Scale, Atomic Scale and single Molecule Logic gate Technologies