Noncontact Atomic Force Microscopy - Yale School of Engineering ...

P.II-21
Manipulation Mechanism of Single Cu Atoms on Cu(110)-O Surface
with Low Temperature Non-Contact AFM
Y. Kinoshita, T. Satoh, Y. J. Li, Y. Naitoh, M. Kageshima and Y. Sugawara
Department of Applied Physics, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University Osaka, Japan
Atom manipulation is a fascinating technique for artificially fabricating nanometer
scale structures. Recently using non-contact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM), the
well-controlled manipulations of individual atoms [1] or molecules on surfaces were
demonstrated. Furthermore, using the force spectroscopy techniques, atomic force-vector
field [2] or driving forces involved in a single atom manipulation [3] were determined.
More recently our group have successfully manipulated single topmost Cu atoms
laterally on Cu(110)-O surfaces and identified manipulation modes (pulling or pushing)
from the AFM feedback signals. At the same time, we found that the atom species (Cu or
O) of the tip apex changes not only the AFM topographic images drastically but also the
mode for lateral manipulation of a Cu atom on the surface. However the difference in tipsample
potential energy from the species of the tip apex has still been unclear. In this
study, we investigate the potential distributions depending on the species of the topmost
atom on the tip and clarify the different mechanisms for lateral manipulation of Cu atoms
All measurements were performed in ultrahigh vacuum at 78 K. By using the image
tracking scheme, the precise positioning of the tip with small drift velocity