race_track_preparation II

Assembled atom by atom for the international molecule-car race, this first experimental runway is constructed using 9 gold atoms manipulated one by one on the gold surface by the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope. After the step by step construction, this define a starting line, an arrival line and 5 central gold ad-atoms separated by 3 nm where a molecule-car must circulate around one by one to win the race. (This track was prepared by C. Manzano, W.H. Soe and C. Joachim on a gold surface where the characteristic surface reconstruction is easily recognized (LT-UHV-STM image, A* STAR IMRE, Singapore)).