Manipulation of C60 islands on the rutile TiO2 (110) surface using noncontact atomic force microscopy

Regular, almost quadratic pits were created in an island of C-60 molecules on a rutile TiO2 (110) surface using noncontact atomic force microscopy at room temperature. Upon gradually approaching the scanning tip toward the surface, the interaction between the tip and the C-60 island was increased until manipulation was achieved. Analyzing the manipulation process unambiguously revealed that the manipulation was performed in the repulsive regime. Retracting the tip allowed for reproducible imaging the C-60 island after the manipulation process. Moreover, whole islands could be reshaped or even removed when scanning with appropriate scanning parameters.