Observation and manipulation of nanestructures formed by rigid rodlike polymers

We report on the formation of nanostructures based, on rigid rodlike polymers with sigma-conjugated (polysilane) and pi-conjugated (poly (p-phenyleneethynylene)) electronic structured. Different types of nanostructures are formed depending on the sample preparation technique, and they are clearly visualized, by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The nanostructures comprise stretched single molecular structures, nanobundle network's, and needles, all of which are induced by the intrinsic rigid nature of the polymers. We also show Our attempts,to manipulate these nanostructures using an AFM cantilever tip.