Characterization and utilization of the context-dependent physical properties of nanoparticles for nanostructures investigated by scanning tunnelling microscopy

As an essential consequence of small distances, objects in tiny structures become context-dependent. To study non-classical functionalisation, nanometre-sized particles seem to be suitable candidates. An appropriate procedure to manufacture nanoparticles from various materials is the evaporation and subsequent condensation in the presence of a thermalizing background gas (noble gas technique). Scanning tunnelling microscopy allows the detection, imaging, and electrical characterization of individual particles or groups of particles deposited on a conducting, atomically flat substrate at room temperature. Comparing current-voltage spectra of an individual particle and of a particle pair reveals a pronounced influence of a neighbouring particle (Coulomb staircase and symmetry of the characteristic). We propose to interpret the experimental results in terms of a general concept of context-dependent objects.