Atom Manipulation on Semiconductor Surfaces

Abstract

Since the sophisticated atom manipulation experiment reported by Eigler, single atom manipulation and assembly by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) has attracted much attention because of the intriguing applications in nanofabrication and nanoscience. In recent years, we have developed an atom manipulation technique using atomic force microscopy (AFM), which has proven to be a powerful tool for imaging individual atoms on insulating as well as conducting surfaces, force spectroscopic measurements between single atoms, and even chemical identification. After the first demonstration of the vertical and lateral manipulation of single atoms using AFM at low temperature, we have achieved well-controlled atom manipulation and assembly on semiconductor surfaces even at room temperature. The new method to enable us to rearrange surface adatoms at room temperature is based on an interchange of different atom species.