Manipulation of insulated molecular wire with atomic force microscope

Recently, we have reported the formation of an insulated molecular wire of a conducting polymer, emeraldine base polyaniline, and a molecular nanotube synthesized from alpha-cyclodextrin. In this study, we manipulated the insulated molecular wire with the cantilever tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM). We found that the insulated molecular wire was moved or cut off by the manipulation process. The results of manipulation with varying AFM tip loading forces indicated that the insulated molecular wire is cut off at loading forces larger than approximately 30 nN.