Controllable dissociations of PH3 molecules on Si(001)

Nanotechnology. 2016 Apr 1;27(13):135704. doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/27/13/135704. Epub 2016 Feb 19.

Abstract

We demonstrate for the first time to our knowledge that controllable dissociation of PH3 adsorption products PHx (x = 2, 1) can be realized by STM (scanning tunneling microscope) manipulation techniques at room temperature. Five dissociative products and their geometric structures are identified via combining STM experiments and first-principle calculations and simulations. In total we realize nine kinds of controllable dissociations by applying a voltage pulse among the PH3-related structures on Si(001). The dissociation rates of the five most common reactions are measured by the I-t spectrum method as a function of voltage. The suddenly increased dissociation rate at 3.3 V indicates a transition from multivibrational excitation to single-step excitation induced by inelastic tunneling electrons. Our studies prove that selectively breaking the chemical bonds of a single molecule on semiconductor surface by STM manipulation technique is feasible.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't