Abstract
Intermolecular interactions can induce energy shifts and coupling of molecular vibrations. However, the detection of intermolecular coupled vibrations has not been reported at the single molecule level. Here we detected an intermolecular coupled vibration between two CO molecules, one on the surface and another on the tip within the gap of a subkelvin scanning tunneling microscope, and analyzed the results by density functional calculations. We attribute the evolution of the energy and intensity of this coupled vibration as a function of tip-sample distance to the tilting and orbital alignment of the two CO molecules.
- Received 16 November 2016
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.036801
© 2017 American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Synopsis
Detecting a Molecular Duet
Published 19 January 2017
Using a scanning tunneling microscope, researchers detect coupled vibrations between two molecules.
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