Issue 48, 2020

STM induced manipulation of azulene-based molecules and nanostructures: the role of the dipole moment

Abstract

Among the different mechanisms that can be used to drive a molecule on a surface by the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope at low temperature, we used voltage pulses to move azulene-based single molecules and nanostructures on Au(111). Upon evaporation, the molecules partially cleave and form metallo-organic dimers while single molecules are very scarce, as confirmed by simulations. By applying voltage pulses to the different structures under similar conditions, we observe that only one type of dimer can be controllably driven on the surface, which has the lowest dipole moment of all investigated structures. Experiments under different bias and tip height conditions reveal that the electric field is the main driving force of the directed motion. We discuss the different observed structures and their movement properties with respect to their dipole moment and charge distribution on the surface.

Graphical abstract: STM induced manipulation of azulene-based molecules and nanostructures: the role of the dipole moment

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
22 Sep 2020
Accepted
24 Nov 2020
First published
11 Dec 2020
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Nanoscale, 2020,12, 24471-24476

STM induced manipulation of azulene-based molecules and nanostructures: the role of the dipole moment

T. Kühne, K. H. Au-Yeung, F. Eisenhut, O. Aiboudi, D. A. Ryndyk, G. Cuniberti, F. Lissel and F. Moresco, Nanoscale, 2020, 12, 24471 DOI: 10.1039/D0NR06809H

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