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Updated: Oct 13, 2025

Hand Controlled Manipulation of Single Molecules via a Scanning Probe Microscope with a 3D Virtual Reality Interface
Published on: October 2, 2016
Cyclic Single Atom Vertical Manipulation on a Nonmetallic Surface
David Abbasi-Pérez1, Hongqian Sang1,2, Filipe L Q Junqueira3
1Department of Physics, King's College London, London WC2R 2LS, U.K.
Abstract:
Motivated by the quest for experimental procedures capable of controlled manipulation of single atoms on surfaces, we set up a computational strategy that explores the cyclical vertical manipulation of a broad set of single atoms on the GaAs(110) surface. First-principles simulations of atomic force microscope tip-sample interactions were performed considering families of GaAs and Au-terminated tip apexes with varying crystalline termination. We identified a subset of tips capable of both picking up and depositing an adatom (Ga, As, Al, and Au) any number of times via a modify-restore cycle that "resets" the apex of the scanning probe to its original structure at the end of each cycle. Manipulation becomes successful within a certain window of lateral and vertical tip distances that are observed to be different for extracting and depositing each atom. A practical experimental protocol of special utility for potential cyclical manipulation of single atoms on a nonmetallic surface is proposed.
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