Fyzikální ústav Akademie věd ČR

Molecular Geometry Determination by Atomic Force Microscopy

Seminar Tuesday, 07/10/2014 10:00 - 11:00

Speakers: Nikolaj Moll (IBM Research Zurich, Ruschlikon, Switzerland)
Place: Cukrovarnická 10, building A, library seminar room, 1st floor
Presented in English
Organisers: Department of Thin Films and Nanostructures

Using functionalized tips, the atomic resolution of a single organic molecule can be achieved by atomic force microscopy (AFM) operating in the regime of short-ranged repulsive Pauli forces while the van der Waals and electrostatic interactions only add a diffuse attractive background. To theoretically describe the atomic contrast a simple model is introduced in which the Pauli repulsion is assumed to follow a power law as a function of the probed charge density. Even, different bond orders of individual carbon-carbon bonds in organic molecules can be distinguished by AFM. The adsorption geometry of single molecules with intramolecular resolution can be measured. The lateral adsorption position can be determined with atomic resolution, adsorption height differences, and tilts of the molecular plane with very high precision.

[1] L. Gross, F. Mohn, N. Moll, P. Liljeroth, and G. Meyer, Science 325, 1110 (2009).

[2] L. Gross, F. Mohn, N. Moll, B. Schuler, A. Criado, E. Guiti??n, D. Pe??a, A. Gourdon, and G. Meyer, Science 337, 1326 (2012).

[3] B. Schuler, W. Liu, A. Tkatchenko, N. Moll, G. Meyer, A. Mistry, D. Fox, and L. Gross, Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 106103 (2013).

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