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Science 17 October 2008:
Vol. 322. no. 5900, pp. 413 - 417
DOI: 10.1126/science.1160601
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Reports

Complex Patterning by Vertical Interchange Atom Manipulation Using Atomic Force Microscopy

Yoshiaki Sugimoto,1 Pablo Pou,2 Oscar Custance,3* Pavel Jelinek,4 Masayuki Abe,1,5 Ruben Perez,2 Seizo Morita1

The ability to incorporate individual atoms in a surface following predetermined arrangements may bring future atom-based technological enterprises closer to reality. Here, we report the assembling of complex atomic patterns at room temperature by the vertical interchange of atoms between the tip apex of an atomic force microscope and a semiconductor surface. At variance with previous methods, these manipulations were produced by exploring the repulsive part of the short-range chemical interaction between the closest tip-surface atoms. By using first-principles calculations, we clarified the basic mechanisms behind the vertical interchange of atoms, characterizing the key atomistic processes involved and estimating the magnitude of the energy barriers between the relevant atomic configurations that leads to these manipulations.

1 Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamada-Oka, 565-0871 Suita, Osaka, Japan.
2 Departamento de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
3 National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, 305-0047 Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
4 Institute of Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Cukrovarnicka 10, 1862 53 Prague, Czech Republic.
5 Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), 332-0012 Saitama, Japan.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: custance.oscar{at}nims.go.jp

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Measuring the Charge State of an Adatom with Noncontact Atomic Force Microscopy.
L. Gross, F. Mohn, P. Liljeroth, J. Repp, F. J. Giessibl, and G. Meyer (2009)
Science 324, 1428-1431
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)