Atomic Manipulation on a Highly Corrugated Topological Insulator

We report a mechanism of lateral manipulation of single Fe adatoms on the surface of the topological insulator Bi_{2}Se_{3} with atomic force microscopy. The Fe atoms are embedded within the sparsely packed surface layer, rendering them inaccessible to classical manipulation methods. Nevertheless, we find a manipulation mechanism in which the Fe atom is plucked from its adsorption site and can be pulled along the surface. We demonstrate the controllability of this pluck-pull manipulation by the construction of a small nanostructure.