11/10/2014
New method in scanning tunnelling microscopy allows moving single molecules
Jülich scientists have developed a new control technique for scanning tunnelling microscopes that enables the user to manipulate large single molecules interactively using their hands. Until now, only simple and inflexibly programmed movements were possible.
To test their method, the researchers "stencilled" a word into a monolayer of molecules by removing just 47 molecules. The process opens up fundamentally novel possibilities for the construction of molecular transistors and other nanocomponents.
Source: Forschungszentrum Jülich