For the first time, ordered polar molecules confined in monolayer-deep rectangular pits produced on an alkali halide surface by electron irradiation have been resolved at room temperature by non-contact atomic force microscopy. Molecules self-assemble in a specific fashion inside pits of width smaller than 15 nm. By contrast no ordered aggregates of molecules are observed on flat terraces. Conclusions regarding nucleation and ordering mechanisms are drawn. Trapping in pits as small as 2 nm opens a route to address single molecules.
Cite
@article{arxiv.physics/0511187,
title = {Observation of individual molecules trapped on a nanostructured insulator},
author = {Laurent Nony and Enrico Dr. Gnecco and Alexis Baratoff and Audrius Alkauskas and Roland Bennewitz and Oliver Pfeiffer and Sabine Maier and Adrian Wezel and Ernst Meyer and Christophe Gerber},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:physics/0511187},
year = {2007}
}