Ultrafast rattling motion of a single atom in a fullerene cage sensed by terahertz spectroscopy

Upon the discovery of the superatom states in endohedral metallofullerenes (EMFs), the superatom properties have become attractive, because ultrafast motion of the trapped atom modifies the charge distribution in the fullerene cage. However, the observation of ultrafast atom motion in the fullerene cage is very challenging, since dynamical processes take place in the terahertz (THz) frequency range in a picometer region. Here, we report on the THz spectroscopy of single Ce@C82 EMF molecules by using the single molecule transistor geometry. Due to the vibron-assisted tunneling process, two broad photocurrent peaks are observed in the THz spectra and are ascribed to the bending and stretching motions of the encapsulated single Ce atom. This work demonstrates that THz spectroscopy using nanogap electrodes can detect a motion of a single atom, opening a door to ultrafast THz nanoscience on the picometer-scale.