Crystalline Thin Film of a Donor‐ Substituted Cyanoethynylethene for Nanoscale Data Recording Through Intermolecular Charge‐Transfer Interactions

Abstract

Nanoscale data recording on high- quality crystalline thin films of N,N- dimethylanilino donor-substituted tricyanoethynylethene acceptors has been achieved by scanning tunneling microscopy with a storage density of about 1013 bits cm–2 (see Figure). The recording is based on an electric-field-induced intermolecular charge-transfer mechanism, which is strongly influenced by the ordered, antiparallel packing mode of the dipolar donor–acceptor molecules in the film.