Tip-triggered Thermal Cascade Manipulation of Magic Number Gold-Fullerene Clusters in the Scanning Tunnelling Microscope.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 28906122.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b02802.
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Abstract
We demonstrate cascade manipulation between magic number gold-fullerene hybrid clusters by channelling thermal energy into a specific reaction pathway with a trigger from the tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM). The (C<sub>60</sub>)<sub>m</sub>-Au<sub>n</sub> clusters, formed via self-assembly on the Au(111) surface, consist of n Au atoms and m C<sub>60</sub> molecules; the three smallest stable clusters are (C<sub>60</sub>)<sub>7</sub>-Au<sub>19</sub>, (C<sub>60</sub>)<sub>10</sub>-Au<sub>35</sub>, and (C<sub>60</sub>)<sub>12</sub>-Au<sub>49</sub>. The manipulation cascade was initiated by driving the STM tip into the cluster followed by tip retraction. Temporary, partial fragmentation of the cluster was followed by reorganization. Self-selection of the correct numbers of Au atoms and C<sub>60</sub> molecules led to the formation of the next magic number cluster. This cascade manipulation is efficient and facile with an extremely high selectivity. It offers a way to perform on-surface tailoring of atomic and molecular clusters by harnessing thermal energy, which is known as the principal enemy of the quest to achieve ultimate structural control with the STM.