Toggling bistable atoms via mechanical switching of bond angle

Sweetman, Adam and Jarvis, Samuel and Danza, Rosanna and Bamidele, Joseph and Gangopadhyay, Subhashis and Shaw, Gordon A. and Kantorovich, Lev and Moriarty, Philip (2011) Toggling bistable atoms via mechanical switching of bond angle. Physical review letters, 106 (13). ISSN 0031-9007

Abstract

We reversibly switch the state of a bistable atom by direct mechanical manipulation of bond angle using a dynamic force microscope. Individual buckled dimers at the Si(100) surface are flipped via the formation of a single covalent bond, actuating the smallest conceivable in-plane toggle switch (two atoms) via chemical force alone. The response of a given dimer to a flip event depends critically on both the local and nonlocal environment of the target atom-an important consideration for future atomic scale fabrication strategies.