Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2021

DOI

10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c04974

Publication Title

Nano Letters

Volume

21

Issue

15

Pages

6391-6397

Abstract

Using a q+ atomic force microscopy at low temperature, a sexiphenyl molecule is slid across an atomically flat Ag(111) surface along the direction parallel to its molecular axis and sideways to the axis. Despite identical contact area and underlying surface geometry, the lateral force required to move the molecule in the direction parallel to its molecular axis is found to be about half of that required to move it sideways. The origin of the lateral force anisotropy observed here is traced to the one-dimensional shape of the molecule, which is further confirmed by molecular dynamics simulations. We also demonstrate that scanning tunneling microscopy can be used to determine the comparative lateral force qualitatively. The observed one-dimensional lateral force anisotropy may have important implications in atomic scale frictional phenomena on materials surfaces.

Comments

Copyright © 2021 UChicago Argonne, LLC, Operator of Argonne National Laboratory.

Published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.

Original Publication Citation

Zhang, Y., Trainer, D. J., Narayanan, B., ... Curtiss, L. A., Sankaranarayanan, S., & Hla, S. W. (2021). One-dimensional lateral force anisotropy at the atomic scale in sliding single molecules on a surface. Nano Letters, 21(15), 6391-6397. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c04974

ORCID

0000-0002-7431-5262 (Zhang)

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