Nanoscale control and detection of electric dipoles in organic molecules

The nanoscopic ferroelectric domains could be formed in P(VDF/TrFE) thin films by applying electric pulses with a conductive atomic force microscope, and detected by using piezoelectric response, revealing that the directions of electric dipoles in organic molecules can be controlled in nanoscale. By changing the polarity of the applied pulses, temporally stable binary information could be 'written' in these films. Moreover, the possibilities of the molecular manipulation and the creation of high-density molecular memory devices utilizing the electric interaction between the polar molecules and the scanning probe microscopy tips are discussed.