Cyclic Single Atom Vertical Manipulation on a Nonmetallic Surface

David Abbasi-Pérez; Hongqian Sang; Filipe L.Q. Junqueira; Adam Sweetman; J. Manuel Recio; Philip Moriarty; Lev Kantorovich

doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c02271

Cyclic Single Atom Vertical Manipulation on a Nonmetallic Surface

David Abbasi-Pérez^*, Hongqian Sang, Filipe L.Q. Junqueira, Adam Sweetman, J. Manuel Recio, Philip Moriarty, Lev Kantorovich

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Motivated by the quest for experimental procedures capable of controlled manipulation of single atoms on surfaces, we set up a computational strategy that explores the cyclical vertical manipulation of a broad set of single atoms on the GaAs(110) surface. First-principles simulations of atomic force microscope tip-sample interactions were performed considering families of GaAs and Au-terminated tip apexes with varying crystalline termination. We identified a subset of tips capable of both picking up and depositing an adatom (Ga, As, Al, and Au) any number of times via a modify-restore cycle that "resets"the apex of the scanning probe to its original structure at the end of each cycle. Manipulation becomes successful within a certain window of lateral and vertical tip distances that are observed to be different for extracting and depositing each atom. A practical experimental protocol of special utility for potential cyclical manipulation of single atoms on a nonmetallic surface is proposed.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	11383-11390
Number of pages	8
Journal	Journal of physical chemistry letters
Volume	12
Issue number	46
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c02271
Publication status	Published - 25 Nov 2021

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title = "Cyclic Single Atom Vertical Manipulation on a Nonmetallic Surface",

abstract = "Motivated by the quest for experimental procedures capable of controlled manipulation of single atoms on surfaces, we set up a computational strategy that explores the cyclical vertical manipulation of a broad set of single atoms on the GaAs(110) surface. First-principles simulations of atomic force microscope tip-sample interactions were performed considering families of GaAs and Au-terminated tip apexes with varying crystalline termination. We identified a subset of tips capable of both picking up and depositing an adatom (Ga, As, Al, and Au) any number of times via a modify-restore cycle that {"}resets{"}the apex of the scanning probe to its original structure at the end of each cycle. Manipulation becomes successful within a certain window of lateral and vertical tip distances that are observed to be different for extracting and depositing each atom. A practical experimental protocol of special utility for potential cyclical manipulation of single atoms on a nonmetallic surface is proposed. ",

author = "David Abbasi-P{\'e}rez and Hongqian Sang and Junqueira, {Filipe L.Q.} and Adam Sweetman and Recio, {J. Manuel} and Philip Moriarty and Lev Kantorovich",

note = "Funding Information: Via our membership of the UK{\textquoteright}s HEC Materials Chemistry Consortium, which is funded by EPSRC (EP/L000202, EP/R029431), this work used both the ARCHER UK National Supercomputing Service ( http://www.archer.ac.uk ) and the UK Materials and Molecular Modelling Hub for computational resources, MMM Hub, which is partially funded by EPSRC (EP/P020194). This research was supported by the UK EPSRC Grant EP/N023587/1. H.S. acknowledges the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 21603086) and the China Scholarship Council (Grant 201608420186). J.M.R. thanks the Spanish MINECO and FICYT for financial support (Projects PGR2018-094814-B-C22 and FC-GRUPIN-IDI/2018/000177) and Universidad de Oviedo for a mobility grant to visit King{\textquoteright}s College London. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.",

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doi = "10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c02271",

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AU - Sang, Hongqian

AU - Junqueira, Filipe L.Q.

AU - Sweetman, Adam

AU - Recio, J. Manuel

AU - Moriarty, Philip

AU - Kantorovich, Lev

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N2 - Motivated by the quest for experimental procedures capable of controlled manipulation of single atoms on surfaces, we set up a computational strategy that explores the cyclical vertical manipulation of a broad set of single atoms on the GaAs(110) surface. First-principles simulations of atomic force microscope tip-sample interactions were performed considering families of GaAs and Au-terminated tip apexes with varying crystalline termination. We identified a subset of tips capable of both picking up and depositing an adatom (Ga, As, Al, and Au) any number of times via a modify-restore cycle that "resets"the apex of the scanning probe to its original structure at the end of each cycle. Manipulation becomes successful within a certain window of lateral and vertical tip distances that are observed to be different for extracting and depositing each atom. A practical experimental protocol of special utility for potential cyclical manipulation of single atoms on a nonmetallic surface is proposed.

AB - Motivated by the quest for experimental procedures capable of controlled manipulation of single atoms on surfaces, we set up a computational strategy that explores the cyclical vertical manipulation of a broad set of single atoms on the GaAs(110) surface. First-principles simulations of atomic force microscope tip-sample interactions were performed considering families of GaAs and Au-terminated tip apexes with varying crystalline termination. We identified a subset of tips capable of both picking up and depositing an adatom (Ga, As, Al, and Au) any number of times via a modify-restore cycle that "resets"the apex of the scanning probe to its original structure at the end of each cycle. Manipulation becomes successful within a certain window of lateral and vertical tip distances that are observed to be different for extracting and depositing each atom. A practical experimental protocol of special utility for potential cyclical manipulation of single atoms on a nonmetallic surface is proposed.

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JO - Journal of physical chemistry letters

JF - Journal of physical chemistry letters

IS - 46

ER -

Cyclic Single Atom Vertical Manipulation on a Nonmetallic Surface

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