STM and AFM high resolution intramolecular imaging of a single decastarphene molecule

Single decastarphene molecules, adsorbed on Cu(1 1 1) and on a bilayer of NaCl/Cu(1 1 1) are imaged by a combination of low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and dynamic atomic force microscopy in the non-contact mode (nc-AFM). This dual imaging technique provides the intramolecular electron density maps of the frontier molecular orbitals via the STM images and the atomic scale skeleton via its constant-height frequency shift nc-AFM images. Recording both images at the same time opens the way to exactly locate the valence states electronic density map of the imaged molecule on its atomic scale skeleton.