Controlled lateral manipulation of molecules on insulating films by STM

On metallic and semiconductor surfaces functional nanostructures can be built with atomic scale precision using the tip of an atomic force microscope/scanning tunneling microscope. In contrast, controlled lateral manipulation on insulators has not been reported. The traditional pushing and pulling based manipulation methods cannot be used for molecules adsorbed on insulating films because of the unfavorable ratio between diffusion barrier and desorption energy. Here, we demonstrate that molecules adsorbed on insulating films can be laterally manipulated in a controlled way by injecting inelastically tunneling electrons at well-defined positions in a molecule. The technique was successfully applied to several different molecules.