Crystalline thin film of a donor-substituted cyanoethynylethene for nanoscale data recording through intermolecular charge-transfer interactions

High-quality crystalline 1,1,2-tricyano-2-[(4-dimethylaminophenyl)ethynyl]ethene (TDMEE) thin films were prepared by vacuum vapor deposition and nanoscale data recording was successfully achieved by scanning tunneling microscopy with storage density of 10¹³ bits cms^-2. The analysis of the mechanism suggests that electric-field-induced intermolecular charge transfer is the main reason for the dot formation. To obtain high-quality thin film, the deposition rate must be slow, less than 5 nm min^-1. The results demonstrate that the packaging mode of the charge transfer molecules has a strong influence on efficient electron transfer.