Periodic charging of individual molecules and charge patterns of an assembly of aromatic heterocyclic molecules on the surface
Single-electron charging is critical for many areas of nanoscience. Charging and discharging events can be detected, i.e. in the force and in the frequency shift in atomic force microscopy. In a combined STM/FM-AFM study, the periodic charging of individual molecules assembled on a Ag(111) substrate was investigated [1].The molecule under investigation, 1,6,7,12-tetraazaperylene (tape), is a planar heterocyclic compound (Figure 1). The incorporated hydrogen bonding capacity stabilizes on surface a two-dimensional molecular assembly. Interestingly, different charge patterns on the 1 nm scale can be created and addressed in a controlled way on the Ag(111) substrate.
[1] Nemanja Kocić, Peter Weiderer, Stefan Keller, Silvio Decurtins, Shi-Xia Liu, Jascha Repp, Nano Letter, 2015, 15, 4406–4411.