Abstract
One of the paramount goals in nanotechnology is molecular-scale functional design, which includes arranging molecules into complex structures at will. The first steps towards this goal were made through the invention of the scanning probe microscope (SPM), which put single-atom and single-molecule manipulation into practice for the first time. Extending the controlled manipulation to larger molecules is expected to multiply the potential of engineered nanostructures. Here we report an enhancement of the SPM technique that makes the manipulation of large molecular adsorbates much more effective. By using a commercial motion tracking system, we couple the movements of an operator's hand to the sub-angstrom precise positioning of an SPM tip. Literally moving the tip by hand we write a nanoscale structure in a monolayer of large molecules, thereby showing that our method allows for the successful execution of complex manipulation protocols even when the potential energy surface that governs the interaction behaviour of the manipulated nanoscale object(s) is largely unknown.
Highlights
The scanning probe microscope (SPM) is an excellent tool for the manipulation of atoms and molecules on surfaces due to its high spatial imaging resolution and atomic-scale precision [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
Because most of the detailed studies of SPM manipulation have been performed on individual atoms or small molecules adsorbed on surfaces with a highly symmetric structure, their success can be explained to a large extent by the fact that the high symmetry of the surface considerably simplifies the potential of the junction in multifunctional state space [5,8]
HCM allows for the straightforward manipulation of single molecules of large organic adsorbates in bound assemblies
Summary
The scanning probe microscope (SPM) is an excellent tool for the manipulation of atoms and molecules on surfaces due to its high spatial imaging resolution and atomic-scale precision [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Defined by the microscopic interactions between the manipulated atom or molecule, the surface and the tip [5].
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