Department of Applied Physics, Aalto University School of Science, P.O. Box 15100, 00076 Aalto, Finland.
Condensed Matter and Interfaces, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80000, 3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Phys Rev Lett. 2014 Oct 31;113(18):186102. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.186102.
Intermolecular features in atomic force microscopy images of organic molecules have been ascribed to intermolecular bonds. A recent theoretical study [P. Hapala et al., Phys. Rev. B 90, 085421 (2014)] showed that these features can also be explained by the flexibility of molecule-terminated tips. We probe this effect by carrying out atomic force microscopy experiments on a model system that contains regions where intermolecular bonds should and should not exist between close-by molecules. Intermolecular features are observed in both regions, demonstrating that intermolecular contrast cannot be directly interpreted as intermolecular bonds.
原子力显微镜图像中有机分子的分子间特征归因于分子间键。最近的一项理论研究[P. Hapala 等人，物理评论 B 90, 085421 (2014)]表明，这些特征也可以用分子末端尖端的柔韧性来解释。我们通过对一个模型系统进行原子力显微镜实验来探测这种效应，该模型系统包含了近距离分子之间应该存在和不应该存在分子间键的区域。在这两个区域都观察到了分子间特征，这表明分子间对比不能直接解释为分子间键。
