In situ scanning tunneling microscopic study of polymerization of C[sub 60] clusters induced by electron injection from the probe tips.

Polymerization of C[sub 60] clusters epitaxially grown on Si(111)-(7x7) substrates was found to be induced by electron injection from the probe tips of scanning tunneling microscopes (STM) as the sample bias was increased from +4.0 to +5.5 V, exhibiting an evolution behavior characterized by an incubation, a linear growth, and a saturation. The incubation time and the growth rate are dependent greatly on the sample site, which is explained by a model taking into account the pre-existing stress as the driving force of the polymerization and the internal stress built up as a consequence of polymerization producing a stress for backward reactions. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]