UC Riverside

The Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) is well known as the best spatially resolved microscope today. Due not only to its microscopic ability, but also to its ability to manipulate individual atoms or molecules, it has been used as a very powerful tool to lead to the miniaturization of nano devices. In this study, arene molecules on Cu(111) at low temperature in ultra-high vacuum(UHV) conditions are systematically investigated using a home-built STM. By changing the size of the molecular body and functional groups, the control of their dynamics and pattern formation was successfully achieved. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations were also performed to support and interpret experimental results.