Control, manipulation and manufacture on the 1-10nm scale using localized forces and excitations

The links above are intended as a reference for the NanoMan project details only. They don't provide much in the way of background reading. Have a look at the links below for some good sources of background information.

Who's Involved in NanoMan?

The NanoMan project is a collaboration between the following world-leading nanotechnology research groups:

The University of Nottingham, UK

The Nottingham Nanoscience group have pursued a broad programme of research over the last decade related to the use of UHV STM to carry out sub-nanometre precision molecular manipulation, including the first demonstration that individual molecules could be controllably manipulated at room temperature. More recent work has focussed on tuning-fork AFM, and investigations of molecular organisation such as H-bonded supramolecular assemblies.

 

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France

There are two CNRS groups involved in the NanoMan project, Toulouse and Orsay. The Toulouse Nanoscience Group is the largest nanoscience and picotechnology group in France, with a focus on developing organic chemistry, UHV-AFM technology and theory for the design and control of nanoscale molecular machines. The Orsay group has experience in atomic and molecular STM manipulations on semiconductor surfaces and more recently has pioneered atomic-scale STM studies on insulating crystals such as diamond.

 

Bilkent University, Turkey

The research activities of the Bilkent group involve atomic resolution imaging of semiconductor and metal surfaces using ultra-small (sub-angstrom) oscillation amplitude non-contact AFM, atomic manipulation using STM and AFM, high resolution ncAFM operation in liquids and magnetic imaging of superconducors and magnetic materials.

 

Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden

The Chalmers University materials and surface theory group has expertise in the theory and modelling of various molecule-surface interactions and processes based on density functional calculations of the electronic structure and classical, quantum molecular dynamics. Specifically they have competence in the theory and modelling of vibrational excitation and bond breaking of single molecules by inelastic electron tunnelling (IET) in a scanning tunnelling microscope.

 

IBM Zurich Research Laboratory, Switzerland

IBM's Zurich Research Laboratory is the European branch of the IBM Research Division with headquarters at the T.J. Watson Research Centre in Yorktown Heights, NY, USA. The scanning tunnelling, force and near-field optical microscopes were all either invented or further developed at Zurich, and have been used to study surfaces, thin films and nanometre-scale structures. More recent work has included the use of inelastic tunnelling to break individual bonds in molecules or between molecules and substrates, and the growth of ultra-thin insulating films as possible substrates for atomic/molecular manipulation.

 

University College London, UK

The UCL group is a member of the London Centre for Nanotechnology. They have produced a general theory of non-contact AFM, which predicts the effect of tip-surface interactions on tip oscillations and includes an accurate treatment of the macroscopic van der Waals, electrostatic and chemical forces between tips and samples. Recently this theory was combined with experimental work from the München group (also a member of the NanoMan project, see below) to establish the chemical nature of atomic features in ncSFM images on a binary insulator.

 

Kings College London, UK

The KCL group has been working on the application of ab initio electronic structure methods to electronic, structural and optical properties of surfaces of oxide crystals. Together with the UCL group (see above) they have been actively involved in the theory of tip-surface interactions in AFM. More recently activities have focussed on the understanding of atomic-scale dissipation in AFM. The KCL group is also currently working on modelling C60 manipulation on Si(100) in collaboration with the Nottingham group (see above).

 

Ludwig Maximilians Universität München, Germany

The München group pioneered the field of atomic resolution dynamic scanning force imaging on insulating surfaces and nanostructures. Their studies of surface defects of hydroxyl groups incorporated into a fluorite surface were pivotal in understanding defect related surface chemistry on ionic materials. More recently the group has been investigating high-resolution imaging of metallic clusters and organic molecules on insulating surfaces.