Non-contact atomic force microscopy study of atomic manipulation on an insulator surface by nanoindentation.

Experimental results on vertical manipulation on an insulator surface using non-contact atomic force microscopy are presented. Cleaved ionic KCl(100) single crystal is used as an insulator surface. With the nanoindentation method used, the vertical manipulation of a single atom in an ionic crystal surface is more difficult than in a semiconductor surface. Therefore, in many cases, more than one surface atom is manipulated while, in rare cases, single-atom manipulation is successfully performed. Lateral manipulation of a vacancy has occasionally succeeded on the KCl(100) surface. We have presumed that the lateral manipulation was induced by pulling.