Submolecular resolution in scanning probe images of Sn-phthalocyanines on Cu(1 0 0) using metal tips.

Single Sn-phthalocyanine (SnPc) molecules adsorb on Cu(1 0 0) with the Sn ion above (Sn-up) or below (Sn-down) the molecular plane. Here we use a combination of atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and first principles calculations to understand the adsorption configuration and origin of observed contrast of molecules in the Sn-down state. AFM with metallic tips images the pyrrole nitrogen atoms in these molecules as attractive features while STM reveals a chirality of the electronic structure of the molecules close to the Fermi level [Formula: see text] which is not observed in AFM. Using density functional theory calculations, the origin of the submolecular contrast is analysed and, while the electrostatic forces turn out to be negligible, the van der Waals interaction between the phenyl rings of SnPc and the substrate deform the molecule, push the pyrrole nitrogen atoms away from the substrate and thus induce the observed submolecular contrast. Simulated STM images reproduce the chirality of the electronic structure near [Formula: see text].

Competing Forces during Contact Formation between a Tip and a Single Molecule.

Sn-phthalocyanine adsorbs on Ag(111) in a physisorbed or a chemisorbed configuration. Both structures are contacted with the tip of a combined scanning tunneling and atomic force microscope. The tunneling conductances of both configurations exhibit similar exponential variations with the tip-molecule distance. The short-range forces, however, display nontrivial distance dependencies. First-principles calculations reproduce the experimental results. Both attractive and repulsive interactions occur between the tip and different parts of the molecule due to a combination of bond formation and electrostatic interactions with the tip electric dipole. Consequently, deformations occur and the force varies in the resulting unexpected fashion.