Detecting and Directing Single Molecule Binding Events on H-Si(100) with Application to Ultra-dense Data Storage

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel STM-based charge detection method to observe single molecule binding on silicon surfaces, enabling precise atomic-scale surface modification and a new ultra-dense data storage approach with 0.88 petabits per inch squared capacity.

Contribution

It presents a new charge detection technique for atomic-scale observation and a molecular repassivation method for ultra-dense data storage applications.

Findings

Successful detection of single molecule binding events

Development of an error correction tool for hydrogen lithography

Implementation of a 0.88 petabit per inch squared data storage system

Abstract

Many new material systems are being explored to enable smaller, more capable and energy efficient devices. These bottom up approaches for atomic and molecular electronics, quantum computation, and data storage all rely on a well-developed understanding of materials at the atomic scale. Here, we report a versatile scanning tunneling microscope (STM) charge characterization technique, which reduces the influence of the typically perturbative STM tip field, to develop this understanding even further. Using this technique, we can now observe single molecule binding events to atomically defined reactive sites (fabricated on a hydrogen-terminated silicon surface) through electronic detection. We then developed a new error correction tool for automated hydrogen lithography, directing molecular hydrogen binding events using these sites to precisely repassivate surface dangling bonds (without the use of a scanned probe). We additionally incorporated this molecular repassivation technique as the primary rewriting mechanism in new ultra-dense atomic data storage designs (0.88 petabits per in$^{2}$).