M. Herrmann et al., Nanomanipulation of ligand-stabilized Au-55 clusters by means of scanning tunneling microscopy, ADV FUNCT M, 11(3), 2001, pp. 202-207
We have investigated ligand-stabilized Au-55 clusters by means of scanning
tunneling microscopy (STM) at room temperature on highly oriented pyrolytic
graphite (HOPG) and other substrates. Single clusters or groups of several
clusters were transferred between sample and STM tip using conventional vo
ltage pulses. With a new variant of voltage pulses called "field-emission p
ulses", cluster shells were partly destroyed by heating with the field-emis
sion current, resulting in a "hardening" of the cluster layer. HOPG substra
te surfaces with most of the clusters removed exhibit "pearl chains" of clu
sters attached to step edges.