Polymerization and depolymerization of fullerenes induced by hole injection from scanning tunneling microscope tips

Reversible polymerization and depolymerization reactions of fullerene (C₆₀) molecules are induced by tunnel injection of holes from tips of scanning tunneling microscopes similarly to the reactions induced by tunneling electrons. The bi-directional and bi-polar features of the hole-induced and electron-induced reactions can be interpreted by a unified model considering ionic reactions over symmetry-imposed barriers in the [2+2] cyclo-addition and the reverse reactions.