Mechanical force used to trigger isomerisation in 3D molecule
An atomically sharp scanning tunnelling microscope tip has been used to control the isomerisation of a butterfly-shaped compound
The tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) has been used to precisely switch between three possible isomers of a single molecule. The approach offers a new way to manipulate the configuration of 3D molecules using mechanical force and could find interesting applications in the field of molecular machines.