On the use of scanning tunneling microscopy to investigate surface structure and interface formation in transition metal oxides: SrTiO3 and TiO2

Since transition metal oxides are wide bandgap, low conductivity materials compared to conventional semiconductors, surface analysis by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is expected to be problematic. This paper considers the factors that affect atomic scale imaging of transition metal oxides and demonstrates how STM can be exploited to examine the geometric and electronic structures of SrTiO₃ and TiO₂ surfaces, their variations with thermochemical history, and the mechanisms of metal/oxide interface formation. The development of periodic atomic scale surface structure with variations in surface compositions are documented for both oxides. Further, the interactions of these surfaces with metal are examined by characterizing the morphologies that develop upon deposition of Cu on SrTiO₃ and Al on TiO₂.     

Plasmon resonance in sputtered gold films observed in scanning tunneling microscopy

Gold films grown on BaTiO₃ substrates, illuminated by a monochromatic beam in the visible range, were investigated using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Irregular variations in the tip displacements versus photon energy are observed at energies of the surface plasmon resonances (2.0 ± 0.1 and 2.7 ± 0.1 eV) of the rough gold film.     

Vacuum phonon tunneling

Field-induced phonon tunneling, a previously unknown mechanism of interfacial thermal transport, has been revealed by ultrahigh vacuum inelastic scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Using thermally broadened Fermi-Dirac distribution in the STM tip as in situ atomic-scale thermometer we found that thermal vibrations of the last tip atom are effectively transmitted to sample surface despite few angstroms wide vacuum gap. We show that phonon tunneling is driven by interfacial electric field and thermally vibrating image charges, and its rate is enhanced by surface electron-phonon interaction.     

Identifying the electronic properties of the Ge(111)-(2×1) surface by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy

We present the results of our low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) investigation of the clean Ge(111) surface. Our experiments enable, for the first time, STM observation of one-dimensional surface screening around surface defects. We identify the dominating role of surface states in the low-temperature STM imaging as well as the important influence of nonequilibrium kinetics on the measured tunneling spectra.     

Negative-differential conductivity measured on a germanium layer on Si(001)

The morphology and the electronic structure of heteroepitaxial germanium layers grown pseudomorphically by solution epitaxy on Si(001) has been investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS). A significant decrease of tunneling current at a sample voltage of 1.5 V is observed in areas of 0.5 nm diameter between dimer rows. This decrease is due to a negative-differential conductivity at a tunnel diode configuration consisting of a surface defect structure of the germanium layer and the STM tungsten tip.     

One-dimensional diffusion of vacancies on Sr/Si(100)-c(2×4) surface

An Sr/Si(100)-c(2×4) surface is investigated by high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS). The semiconductor property of this surface is confirmed by STS. The STM images of this surface shows that it is bias-voltage dependent and an atomic resolution image can be obtained at an empty state under a bias voltage of 1.5 V. Furthermore, one-dimensional (1D) diffusion of vacancies can be found in the room-temperature STM images. Sr vacancies diffuse along the valley channels, which are constructed by silicon dimers in the surface. Weak interaction between Sr and silicon dimers, low metal coverage, surface vacancy, and energy of thermal fluctuation at room temperature all contribute to this 1D diffusion.     

Distance-dependent STM-study of the W(110)/C-R(15×3) surface

The W(110)/C-R(15×3) reconstructed surface has been studied by STM at variable tip-surface separation controlled by the tunneling gap resistance. A pronounced dependence of the STM image contrast as a function of tip height has been observed which is explained by the suppression of higher Fourier components, i.e. small wavelength features, with increasing tip height and an additional spatial dependence of the decay length of the surface wavefunction. As an important implication of our study we have found that STM images of non-trivial surface structures can depend critically on the tunneling gap resistance.     

Nonlocal dissociative chemistry of adsorbed molecules induced by localized electron injection into metal surfaces

We present a novel approach to surface chemistry studies using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), where dissociation of molecules adsorbed on metal surfaces is induced nonlocally in a 10-100 nm radius around the STM tip by hot electrons that originate from the STM tip and transport on the surface. Nonlocal molecular excitation eliminates the influence of the STM tip on the outcome of the electron-induced chemical reaction. The spatial attenuation of the nonlocal reaction is used as a direct measure of hot-electron transport on the surface.     

用扫描隧道显微术进行单原子操纵的机理研究

本文简要综述利用扫描隧道显微镜（ＳＴＭ）进行单原子操纵的物理机制。主要介绍了场增强的扩散、在表面上拖动（ｐｕｌｉｎｇ）推动（ｐｕｓｈｉｎｇ）原子、原子在针尖表面间接触和近接触转移、场致蒸发／脱附、隧道电子非弹性射激发和电子迁移的“电子风力”等过程。同时介绍了一些理论处理方法和对一些实验结果的解释。     

Atomic engineering of photon emission with a scanning tunneling microscope

We present measurements of photon emission from individual several-atom silver chains on the NiAl(110) surface, excited by tunneling electrons in a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). The chains were assembled by manipulating single silver atoms on the NiAl(110) surface with the STM. The photon energy of this emission can be tuned by appending a single atom to the chain. These changes in photon emission result from changes in the electronic structure of the silver chain, each electronic state inside the chain being associated with a distinct channel of emission.     

Metallic nature of the alpha-Sn/Ge(111) surface down to 2.5 K

Low temperature (down to 2.5 K) scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS) measurements are presented to assess the nature of the alpha-Sn/Ge(111) surface. Bias-dependent STM and STS measurements have been used to demonstrate that such a surface preserves a metallic 3 x 3 reconstruction at very low temperature. A tip-surface interaction mechanism becomes active below about 20 K at the alpha-Sn/Ge(111) surface, resulting in an apparent unbuckled (sqrt[3] x sqrt[3]) reconstruction when filled states STM images are acquired with tunneling currents higher than 0.2 nA.     

Scanned-probe topological and spectroscopic study of surface states on clean and Si-deposited GaAs (0 0 1)-c(4×4) surfaces

Microscopic topological and spectroscopic properties of MBE-grown GaAs c(4×4) surfaces without and with monolayer Si deposition were investigated by the scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS). Empty state STM images on as-grown surface showed bright and dark cells, and they exhibited strong correlation with the spatial distribution of normal and anomalous conductance gaps of the STS spectra. Bias dependent STM images indicated presence of pinning areas with continuous space and energy distribution of surface gap states. By deposition of monolayer Si, dark areas reduced a great deal and the rate of finding normal STS spectra increased, indicating large reduction of surface states.     

STM investigations of local potential barrier dist ribution of the atomic surface of graphite

To modulate the tunneling gap with the lock-in amplifier in the scanning tunneling microscopy(STM), information of the tunneling current variation can be obtained. The local potential barrier distribution of graphite surface atoms is got by means of such technology. Compared with STM image under topography observation mode, the local potential barrier image has higher resolu tion and less influence on the tip and better anti-interference capability. Obs erved results of the graphite are given and discussed in this paper.     

Visualization of electron orbitals in scanning tunneling microscopy

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is one of the main techniques for direct visualization of the surface electronic structure and chemical analysis of multi-component surfaces at the atomic scale. This review is focused on the role of the tip orbital structure and tip-surface interaction in STM imaging with picometer spatial resolution. Fabrication of STM probes with well-defined structure and selective visualization of individual electron orbitals in the STM experiments with controlled tunneling gap and probe structure are demonstrated.     

Photo-induced tunneling spectroscopy of ReS2: Dramatic increase of the quantum efficiency by chemical treatment

In this work we present a systematic study of the local photovoltaic properties of ReS₂, using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). The tunneling junction of the STM was optically illuminated during the tunneling process. The phase sensitive detected photo-induced tunneling current (PITC) was studied as a function of wavelength and surface topography. In order to improve the performance of ReS₂ solar cells, the samples were treated with NaI/I₂ and EDTA solutions. Relative to the untreated sample, the EDTA-treated samples show an increase in the photo-induced tunneling current by a factor of 8–10 in the whole spectral range, the NaI/I-treated samples by 2–3. Two dimensional mapping of the PITC was performed on an atomic scale and compared to the surface topography.     

STM manipulation of a subphthalocyanine double-wheel molecule on Au(111)

A new class of double-wheel molecules is manipulated on a Au(111) surface by the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) at low temperature. The double-wheel molecule consists of two subphthalocyanine wheels connected by a central rotation carbon axis. Each of the subphthalocyanine wheels has a nitrogen tag to monitor its intramolecular rolling during an STM manipulation sequence. The position of the tag can be followed by STM, allowing us to distinguish between the different lateral movements of the molecule on the surface when manipulated by the STM tip.     

Surface dynamics studied by time-dependent tunneling current

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is not only an excellent tool for the study of static geometric structures and electronic structures of surfaces due to its high spatial and energy resolution, but also a powerful tool for the study of surface dynamic behaviors, including surface diffusion, molecular rotation, and surface chemical reactions. Because of the limitation of the scanning speed, the video-STM technique cannot study the fast dynamic processes. Alternatively, a time-dependent tunneling current, I-t curve, method is employed in the research of fast dynamic processes. Usually, this method can detect about 1000 times faster dynamic processes than the traditional video-STM method. When placing the STM tip over a certain interesting position on the sample surface, the changing of tunneling current induced by the surface dynamic phenomena can be recorded as a function of time. In this article, we review the applications of the time-dependent tunneling current method to the studies of surface dynamic phenomena in recent years, especially on surface diffusion, molecular rotation, molecular switching, and chemical reaction.     

Au(111)表面单个钴酞菁分子的去氢过程

利用低温超高真空扫描隧道显微镜对单个钴酞菁分子实现了选键化学反应.通过对吸附于Au(111)表面的单个钴酞菁分子外围H原子的"剪裁",并用实验图像和谱学方法,结合第一性原理理论计算研究了逐步去除钴酞菁分子8个外围H原子的过程.理论计算结果再现了实验中所观测到的分子空间构型的变化,并阐明了吸附体系中局域自旋的恢复和变化过程.     

Bridging charge-orbital ordering and Fermi surface instabilities in half-doped single-layered manganite La(0.5)Sr(1.5)MnO₄

The single-layered half-doped manganite La(0.5)Sr(1.5)MnO? (LSMO), was studied by means of the angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and resistivity measurements. STM revealed a smooth reconstruction-free surface; the density of states, extracted from photoemission and tunneling spectroscopy, is in agreement with transport measurements. The derived from ARPES Fermi surface (FS) nesting properties correspond to the known pattern of the charge-orbital ordering (COO), which implies that FS instability is related to the propensity to form a COO state in LSMO.     

STM-induced photon emission spectroscopy of granular gold surfaces in air

Light emission has been detected under ambient conditions in the tip–sample region of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) consisting of an etched gold tip and a granular gold film. The photon yield as a function of surface geometry (photon mapping) has been studied. By means of STM, it was possible to measure photon emission spectra locally. We have studied the effect of grain size and applied bias voltage on the spectrum. We found that the peak position in the photon emission spectrum shifts to a shorter wavelength when increasing the bias voltage and shifts to a longer wavelength when tunneling to larger grains. These effects can be understood in a simple model which considers tunneling electrons exciting localized surface plasmons which decay by emitting photons.