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Science 21 October 2005:
Vol. 310. no. 5747, pp. 468 - 470
DOI: 10.1126/science.1117303
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Reports

Visualization of the Molecular Jahn-Teller Effect in an Insulating K4C60 Monolayer

A. Wachowiak, R. Yamachika, K. H. Khoo, Y. Wang, M. Grobis, D.-H. Lee, Steven G. Louie, M. F. Crommie*

We present a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) study of KxC60 monolayers on Au(111) for 3 ≤ x ≤ 4. The STM spectrum evolves from one that is characteristic of a metal at x = 3 to one that is characteristic of an insulator at x = 4. This electronic transition is accompanied by a dramatic structural rearrangement of the C60 molecules. The Jahn-Teller effect, a charge-induced mechanical deformation of molecular structure, is directly visualized in the K4C60 monolayer at the single-molecule level. These results, along with theoretical analyses, provide strong evidence that the transition from metal to insulator in KxC60 monolayers is caused by the Jahn-Teller effect.

Department of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720–7300, USA, and Material Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720–7300, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: crommie{at}berkeley.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)