Controlled positioning or modification of individual surface atoms or molecules, including manipulation with a scanning probe. A weakly coupled imaging pass locates the adsorbate; stronger tip interaction or suitable excitation changes its motion or binding. Subsequent imaging checks the result. Temperature, substrate, tip state and atomic species determine the useful mechanism.
A deliberately assembled xenon-atom surface pattern illustrating controlled atomic manipulation. Don Eigler and Erhard Schweizer reported individual xenon positioning on single-crystal nickel at about in their 1990 paper.[ref]
Transferring an adsorbate between substrate and probe tip, allowing pickup, lateral repositioning and deposition at a selected site. Its feasibility depends on the tip and substrate binding landscapes and on the controlled excitation.
Moving a surface adsorbate between lateral positions by coupling it to a nearby scanning-probe tip and moving the tip parallel to the surface. Pulling, pushing and sliding depend on the competing tip–adsorbate and substrate interactions.

Ancestors (8)

  1. Scanning tunneling microscopy
  2. Tunnel junction
  3. Quantum tunnelling
  4. Potential barrier
  5. Quantum mechanics
  6. Branches of physics
  7. Physics
  8. Home

Incoming links (1)

View article source

Discussion (0)

New discussion

There are no discussions about this article yet.

Articles by others on the same topic (1)

Atomic manipulation by Wikipedia Bot 1
View more
Atomic manipulation refers to the process of precisely controlling and modifying materials or systems at the atomic or molecular level. This can involve the direct manipulation of individual atoms or molecules to achieve specific desired properties or functions. Atomic manipulation is a key area in fields such as nanotechnology, materials science, chemistry, and quantum computing.
Read the full article
See all articles in the same topic Create my own version