Observation of individual molecules trapped on a nanostructured insulator

Laurent Nony (1) , Enrico Gnecco (2) , Alexis Baratoff (2) , Audrius Alkauskas (2) , Roland Bennewitz (3) , Oliver Pfeiffer (2) , Sabine Maier (2) , Adrian Wezel (2) , Ernst Meyer (2) , Christophe Gerber (2)

1 L2MP - Laboratoire matériaux et microélectronique de Provence
2 NCCR - Institute of Physics
3 Institute of Physics [Basel]

For the first time, ordered polar molecules confined in monolayer-deep rectangular pits produced on an alkali halide surface by electron irradiation have been resolved at room temperature by non-contact atomic force microscopy. Molecules self-assemble in a specific fashion inside pits of width smaller than 15 nm. By contrast no ordered aggregates of molecules are observed on flat terraces. Conclusions regarding nucleation and ordering mechanisms are drawn. Trapping in pits as small as 2 nm opens a route to address single molecules.

Mots clés: Non-contact AFM; organic molecules; molecular resolution; insulating surfaces; alkali halides; confinement

Domaines: Agrégats Moléculaires et Atomiques [physics.atm-clus]

Laurent Nony, Enrico Gnecco, Alexis Baratoff, Audrius Alkauskas, Roland Bennewitz, et al.. Observation of individual molecules trapped on a nanostructured insulator. Nano Letters, 2004, 4, pp.2185-2189. ⟨10.1021/nl048693v⟩. ⟨hal-00014222⟩