In order to probe nanostructures on a surface we present a microscope based on the quantum recurrence phenomena. A cloud of atoms bounces off an atomic mirror connected to a cantilever and exhibits quantum recurrences. The times at which the recurrences occur depend on the initial height of the bouncing atoms above the atomic mirror, and vary following the structures on the surface under invest...

We investigated the reaction mechanism of the desorption of single hydrogen from a titanium dioxide surface excited by the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Analysis of the desorption yield, in combination with theoretical calculations, indicates the crucial role played by the applied electric field. Instead of facilitating desorption by reducing the barrier height, the applied elec...

Controlled step-by-step dissociation of single iodobenzene molecules has been performed at Cu(111) step-edges using tunneling electrons from a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip at 12 K. We show that the threshold tunneling electron energies to break a single bond inside a polyatomic molecule can be determined by using I-V spectroscopy of single molecules. Electron energies of 1.5±0.1 eV a...

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) is a technique where the surface topography of a conducting sample is probed by a scanning metallic tip. The tip-to-surface distance is controlled by monitoring the electronic tunneling current between the two metals. The aim of this work is to extend the temporal range of this instrument by characterising the time fluctuations of this current on different su...

We demonstrate rotational excitation spectroscopy with the scanning tunneling microscope for physisorbed H(2) and its isotopes HD and D(2). The observed excitation energies are very close to the gas phase values and show the expected scaling with the moment of inertia. Since these energies are characteristic for the molecular nuclear spin states we are able to identify the para and ortho specie...

The magnetic force scanning tunneling microscopy is briefly discussed and demonstrated to successfully image overwritten data on commercial rigid magnetic disks. In particular, clear images of unerased remnants of the previously stored data are presented. These unerased data are attributed to slight radial deviations in write head tracking due to the intrinsic limitations in the electromechanic...

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images of l-docosanol, 1-docosanethiol, didocosyl disulfide, and 1-chlorooctadecane on graphite are compared. The images of the I-docosanethiol and didocosyl disulfide show bright spots which are attributed to the positions of the S-H and S-S functional groups. The STM images of the l-docosanol and l-chlorooctadecane do not show such bright spots. Thb fact th...

We theoretically show how the spin orientation of a single magnetic adatom can be controlled by spin polarized electrons in a scanning tunneling microscope configuration. The underlying physical mechanism is spin assisted inelastic tunneling. By changing the direction of the applied current, the orientation of the magnetic adatom can be completely reversed on a time scale that ranges from a few...