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Science 6 March 1992:
Vol. 255. no. 5049, pp. 1232 - 1235
DOI: 10.1126/science.255.5049.1232
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Articles

Dissociation of Individual Molecules with Electrons from the Tip of a Scanning Tunneling Microscope

G. DUJARDIN 1, R. E. WALKUP 2, and PH. AVOURIS 2

1 Laboratoire de Photophysique Moleculaire, Bâtiment 213, Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France
2 IBM Research Division, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598

The scanning tunneling microscope (STM) can be used to select a particular adsorbed molecule, probe its electronic structure, dissociate the molecule by using electrons from the STM tip, and then examine the dissociation products. These capabilities are demonstrated for decaborane(14) (B10H14) molecules adsorbed on a silicon(111)-(7 x 7) surface. In addition to basic studies, such selective dissociation processes can be used in a variety of applications to control surface chemistry on the molecular scale.

Submitted on October 29, 1991
Accepted on January 7, 1992


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Reversible Rotation of Antimony Dimers on the Silicon (001) Surface with a Scanning Tunneling Microscope.
Y. W. Mo (1993)
Science 261, 886-888
   Abstract »    PDF »
Machining Oxide Thin Films with an Atomic Force Microscope: Pattern and Object Formation on the Nanometer Scale.
Y. Kim and C. M. Lieber (1992)
Science 257, 375-377
   Abstract »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)