[Mn III 6 Cr III ] 3+ is a triple-charged cation. Salts of [Mn III 6 Cr III ] 3+ with different monoanionic

counterions (X = BPh4, PF6IOAc, ClO4, lactate) and MLN4924 order the trianionic counterion [Cr(CN)6)]3- have been prepared so far. X-ray crystallography measurements of this molecule show a height of 1.22 nm and a width of 2.13 nm. The oxidation state of the manganese atoms of [Mn III 6 Cr III ] 3+ stays intact when prepared on the surface (e.g., gold, highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG)) [16]. Nevertheless, X-ray absorption measurements have shown different radiation sensitivities depending on the anion used in which (ClO4)- anions appeared to be one order of magnitude more stable than tetraphenylborate and lactate [17]. The arrangement of the adsorbed molecules of [Mn III 6 Cr III ] 3+ depends heavily on the substrate used. HOPG allows the SMMs to form islands of monolayers, whereas on substrates like Si, the formation of hemispheric clusters on the surface has been observed [18]. The characterization of the topology of adsorbed [Mn III 6 Cr III ] 3+ SMMs was performed by means of nc-AFM [19–21]. Further information was gained by frequency modulated Kelvin probe force microscopy (FM-KPFM) in order to measure the local contact potential

differences (LCPD). Methods selleck The molecules observed in the study were [Mn III 6 Cr III ](ClO4)3. The substrates used were HOPG. The methods used in this study were non-contact atomic

Avelestat (AZD9668) force microscopy, Kelvin probe force microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A solution of 10 μl of [Mn III 6 Cr III ](ClO4)3 solved in methanol in order to achieve a concentration of 1 × 10-5 mol/l was prepared. This solution was applied in air at room temperature onto a 10 × 10 mm2 HOPG (NT-MDT, ZYB quality, Zelenograd, Moscow, Russia) surface, using the droplet technique [22, 23]. The HOPG substrate was glued onto the surface of Omicron Carriers (Omicron NanoTechnology, Taunusstein, Germany) and tilted at an angle of 57° to the horizontal plane in order to achieve a more Selleckchem AG 14699 homogeneous wetting. The number of molecules applied is sufficient for approximately one monolayer. The sample was put inside the load lock of the ultra-high vacuum (UHV) apparatus immediately following deposition of the solution with the molecules. The SMM molecules adsorbed on the HOPG surface by this procedure stay intact with respect to the composition, magnetic properties, and their oxidation state, as was confirmed earlier using XAS [16, 17] and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) [18]. Experiments were performed with a modified Omicron UHV AFM/STM in non-contact mode at room temperature (approximately 22°C) and a pressure of 3 × 10-8 Pa. The self-oscillating mode was replaced by a phase locked loop (PLL) setup from Nanosurf (easyscan2, Nanosurf, Woburn, MA, USA).