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      Manipulation of atoms across a surface at room temperature

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      Author(s)
      Fishlock, T. W.
      Oral, A.
      Egdell, R. G.
      Pethica, J. B.
      Date
      2000
      Source Title
      Nature
      Print ISSN
      0028-0836
      Publisher
      Nature Publishing Group
      Volume
      404
      Issue
      6779
      Pages
      743 - 745
      Language
      English
      Type
      Article
      Item Usage Stats
      178
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      199
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      Abstract
      Since the realization that the tips of scanning probe microscopes can interact with atoms at surfaces, there has been much interest in the possibility of building or modifying nanostructures or molecules directly from single atoms. Individual large molecules can be positioned on surfaces, and atoms can be transferred controllably between the sample and probe tip. The most complex structures are produced at cryogenic temperatures by sliding atoms across a surface to chosen sites. But there are problems in manipulating atoms laterally at higher temperatures - atoms that are sufficiently well bound to a surface to be stable at higher temperatures require a stronger tip interaction to be moved. This situation differs significantly from the idealized weakly interacting tips of scanning tunnelling or atomic force microscopes. Here we demonstrate that precise positioning of atoms on a copper surface is possible at room temperature. The triggering mechanism for the atomic motion unexpectedly depends on the tunnelling current density, rather than the electric field or proximity of tip and surface.
      Keywords
      Article
      Atom
      Chemical structure
      Electric current
      Molecular dynamics
      Molecular interaction
      Molecular stability
      Priority journal
      Temperature sensitivity
      Permalink
      http://hdl.handle.net/11693/25059
      Published Version (Please cite this version)
      http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/35008030
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      • Department of Physics 2484
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