Manipulation of molecules on surfaces with the scanning tunnelling microscope

An experimental study of buckministerfullerene on the Au(111) surface and of chlorobenzene and oxygen molecules on the Si(111)-7x7 surface has been conducted with variable and room temperature (RT) scanning tunneling microscopes, respectively. First, the formation of hybrid clusters, (C\(_{60}\))\(_n\)-(Au)\(_m\), from 110 K to RT has been studied at different C\(_{60}\) molecule coverages. The properties of the hybrid clusters, such as rotation, transformation and diffusion, were observed at RT. Mechanical manipulation of C60 molecules in the hybrid cluster was performed in order to explore the production of a single type of hybrid cluster. Cascade manipulation was achieved by downsizing (C\(_{60}\))\(_{14}\)-(Au)\(_{63}\) clusters to (C\(_{60}\))\(_{7}\)-(Au)\(_{19}\) clusters at RT. The manipulation of the hybrid clusters was performed at 110 K in addition to RT. A comparative study of the non-local manipulation of chlorobenzene molecules and oxygen on the Si(111)-7x7 surface was performed with the RT STM via electron induced from the STM tip. It is found that a suppression region (~40 Å) for both molecules is quite universal in the STM experiments. A local desorption threshold of +1.4 V was found for the chlorobenzene molecule. Local manipulation of bright and dark sites of oxygen were induced six different transformations on the molecular sites