Fig. 3: Local probe-induced structural isomerization.
From: Local probe-induced structural isomerization in a one-dimensional molecular array
a, c, e STM topographies of dehydroazulene units 3 on a 3D-OMC. b I-V curve taken in negative and d positive voltage ranges. Abrupt changes of the tunneling current indicate the tip-induced isomerization of the dehydroazulene unit. f Calculated energy barrier for the structural isomerization. g Systematic local probe isomerization of dehydroazulene units on a 3D-OMC. “Nanoprobe GRP. NIMS©” in 8-bit binary ascii code is embedded via sequential 71 isomerization in the dehydroazulene array. The size of the image is 1.52 nm × 10.16 nm. h, i Tunneling current as a function of time measured at different tip-sample gaps. Green, gray, and yellow areas indicate the presence of initial dehydroazulene, short-lived diradical and final dehydroazulene units, respectively. j Reaction rates of azulene to diradical and diradical to azulene at different tunneling currents. The values of 1.9 and 1.7 indicate the slopes of linear fitting of each data in the log-log scale. Measurement parameters: V = −1.8 V and Vac = 10 mV in a, c, e.
