Tip-Induced Molecule Anchoring in Ni-Phthalocyanine on Au(111) Substrate

摘要

Pinning single molecules at desired positions can provide opportunities tofabricate bottom-up designed molecular machines. Using the combined approach ofscanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory, we report ontip-induced anchoring of Niphthalocyanine molecules on an Au(111) substrate. Wedemonstrate that the tip-induced current leads to the dehydrogenation of abenzene-like ligand in the molecule, which subsequently creates chemical bondsbetween the molecule and the substrate. It is also found that the diffusivityof Ni-phthalocyanine molecules is dramatically reduced when the molecules areanchored on the Au adatoms produced by bias pulsing. The tip-induced molecularanchoring would be readily applicable to other functional molecules thatcontain similar ligands.