Silver oligomer and single fullerene electronic properties revealed by a scanning tunnelling microscope

Clusters on surfaces have been investigated with low-temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy. Constant current spectra acquired on Ag oligomers and one-dimensional chains on a Ag(111) reveal a single resonance peak whose energy shifts towards the Fermi level with increasing cluster size. Next, controlled and reproducible contact between a STM tip and a C₆₀ molecule adsorbed on Cu(100) is reported. The transition from tunnelling to contact is discussed in terms of local heating of the tip-molecule junction.     

Atom transfer and single-adatom contacts

The point contact of a tunnel tip approaching towards Ag(111) and Cu(111) surfaces is investigated with a low temperature scanning tunneling microscope. A sharp jump to contact, random in nature, is observed in the conductance. After point contact, the tip-apex atom is transferred to the surface, indicating that a one-atom contact is formed during the approach. In sharp contrast, the conductance over single silver and copper adatoms exhibits a smooth and reproducible transition from tunneling to contact regime. Numerical simulations show that this is a consequence of the additional dipolar bonding between the adatom and the surface atoms.     

Quantum conductance in semimetallic bismuth nanocontacts

Electronic transport properties of bismuth nanocontacts are analyzed using a low temperature scanning tunneling microscope. The subquantum steps observed in the conductance versus elongation curves give evidence of atomic rearrangements in the contact. The quantum nature of the conductance reveals itself through peaks in the conductance histograms. The shape of the curves at 77 K is described by a simple gliding mechanism for the contact evolution during elongation. The different behavior at 4 K suggests a transition from light to heavy charge carriers as the contact cross section is decreased.     

Conductance and Kondo effect in a controlled single-atom contact

The tip of a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope is brought into contact with individual cobalt atoms adsorbed on Cu(100). A smooth transition from the tunneling regime to contact occurs at a conductance of G approximately G0. Spectroscopy in the contact regime, i.e., at currents in a muA range, was achieved and indicated a significant change of the Kondo temperature TK. Calculations indicate that the proximity of the tip shifts the cobalt d band and thus affects TK.     

Formation of a metallic contact: jump to contact revisited

The transition from tunneling to metallic contact between two surfaces does not always involve a jump, but can be smooth. We have observed that the configuration and material composition of the electrodes before contact largely determine the presence or absence of a jump. Moreover, when jumps are found preferential values of conductance have been identified. Through a combination of experiments, molecular dynamics, and first-principles transport calculations these conductance values are identified with atomic contacts of either monomers, dimers, or double-bond contacts.     

Engineering negative differential conductance with the Cu(111) surface state

Low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy are employed to investigate electron tunneling from a C60-terminated tip into a Cu(111) surface. Tunneling between a C60 orbital and the Shockley surface states of copper is shown to produce negative differential conductance (NDC) contrary to conventional expectations. NDC can be tuned through barrier thickness or C60 orientation up to complete extinction. The orientation dependence of NDC is a result of a symmetry matching between the molecular tip and the surface states.     

Controlling the charge state of a single redox molecular switch

Scanning tunneling microscopy and dynamic force microscopy in the noncontact mode are used in combination to investigate the reversible switching between two stable states of a copper complex adsorbed on a NaCl bilayer grown on Cu(111). The molecular conformation in these two states is deduced from scanning tunneling microscopy imaging, while their charge is characterized by the direct measurement of the tip-molecule electrostatic force. These measurements demonstrate that the molecular bistability is achieved through a charge-induced rearrangement of the coordination sphere of the metal complex, qualifying this system as a new electromechanical single-molecular switch.     

Control of relative tunneling rates in single molecule bipolar electron transport

The influence of relative electron tunneling rates on electron transport in a double-barrier single-molecule junction is studied. The junction is defined by positioning a scanning tunneling microscope tip above a copper phthalocyanine molecule adsorbed on a thin oxide film grown on the NiAl(110) surface. By tuning the tip-molecule separation, the ratio of tunneling rates through the two barriers, vacuum and oxide, is controlled. This results in dramatic changes in the relative intensities of individual conduction channels, associated with different vibronic states of the molecule.     

In-plane and perpendicular tunneling through InAs quantum dots

A Schottky diode with InAs dots in the intrinsic GaAs region was used to investigate perpendicular tunneling (in growth direction) through InAs quantum dots (QDs). At forward bias conditions electrons tunnel from the ohmic back contact into the metal Schottky gate. Peaks appear in the differential conductance when a QD level comes into resonance with the Fermi-level of the n-doped region. The observed tunneling features are attributed to electron transport through the s- and p-shell of the InAs islands. In our in-plane tunneling experiments the islands were embedded in the channel region of an n-doped GaAs/AlGaAs HEMT-structure. In order to study tunneling through single InAs islands, a quantum point contact was defined by lithography with an atomic force microscope and subsequent wet-chemical etching. In contrast to unpatterned devices sharp peaks appear in the I–V characteristic of our samples reflecting the transport of electrons through the p-shell of a single InAs QD.     

Graphene on Ru(0001): contact formation and chemical reactivity on the atomic scale

Graphene on Ru(0001) is contacted with Au tips of a cryogenic scanning tunneling microscope. The formation and conductance of single-atom contacts vary within the moiré unit cell. Density functional calculations reveal that elastic distortions of the graphene lattice occur at contact due to a selectively enhanced chemical reactivity of C atoms at hollow sites of Ru(0001). Concomitant quantum transport calculations indicate that the graphene-Ru distance determines the conductance variations.     

Effect of monolayer order and dynamics on the electronic transport of molecular wires

This article discusses the self assembly of conjugated thiol molecular wires on Au(111) substrates and their charge transport studied by scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. Molecular resolution imaging of the conjugated thiols show that differences in their structure and inter molecular interactions result in an ordering on gold that is different from the hexagonal symmetry found in alkanethiols. Tunneling spectroscopy on the molecular wires provides information about their intrinsic electronic properties such as the origin of the observed conductance gap and asymmetry in the I–Vs. Further by concurrent topographic and tunneling spectroscopic studies on a conjugated thiol molecule self assembled with and without molecular order, we show that packing and order determine the response of the monolayer to various competing interactions and that the presence of molecular order is very important for reproducible transport measurements. Competing forces between the electric field, intermolecular interactions, tip-molecule physisorption and substrate-molecule chemisorption impact the transport measurements and its reliability. This study points to the fact that molecular electronic devices should be designed to be tolerant to such fluctuations and dynamics. PACS 68.37.Ef; 73.63.-b; 81.16.Dn     

Quantum tunneling between paramagnetic and superconducting states of a nanometer-scale superconducting grain placed in a magnetic field

We consider the process of quantum tunneling between the superconducting and paramagnetic states of a nanometer-scale superconducting grain placed in a magnetic field. The grain is supposed to be weakly coupled to a normal metallic contact that plays the role of the spin reservoir. Using the instanton method, we find the probability of the quantum tunneling process and express it in terms of the applied magnetic field, order parameter of the superconducting grain, and conductance of the tunneling junction between the grain and metallic contact.     

Intrinsic inhomogeneities in manganite thin films investigated with scanning tunneling spectroscopy

Thin films of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 on MgO show a metal insulator transition and colossal magnetoresistance. The shape of this transition can be explained by intrinsic spatial inhomogeneities, which give rise to a domain structure of conducting and insulating domains at the submicrometer scale. These domains then undergo a percolation transition. The tunneling conductance and tunneling gap measured by scanning tunneling spectroscopy were used to distinguish and visualize these domains.     

Relevance of multiple quasiparticle tunneling between edge states at nu=p/(2np+1)

We present an explanation for the anomalous behavior in tunneling conductance and noise through a point contact between edge states in the Jain series nu=p/(2np+1), for extremely weak backscattering and low temperatures [Y. C. Chung, M. Heiblum, and V. Umansky, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 216804 (2003)10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.216804]. We consider edge states with neutral modes propagating at finite velocity, and we show that the activation of their dynamics causes the unexpected change in the temperature power law of the conductance. Even more importantly, we demonstrate that multiple-quasiparticle tunneling at low energies becomes the most relevant process. This result will be used to explain the experimental data on current noise where tunneling particles have a charge that can reach p times the single-quasiparticle charge. In this Letter, we analyze the conductance and the shot noise to substantiate quantitatively the proposed scenario.     

准一维纳米线电子输运的梯度无序效应

考虑实际体系的梯度无序和结散射,发展格林函数矩阵分解消元方法,研究了准一维纳米线的电子输运性质. 结果表明,由于结散射,电导随能量呈现振荡行为,无序的引入破坏了电子相干性,在低无序度区平均电导呈现异常增加,呈现一个新的电导峰. 当表面存在无序但无梯度衰减时,体系的平均电导随无序度增强先减后增,出现类局域-退局域性转变. 当表面无序线性衰减时,平均电导在强无序区稍有增加,而当表面无序高斯型衰减时,平均电导指数衰减,类局域-退局域性转变消失,不同于以前的理论预言. 研究结果对准一维纳米线电子器件的结构设计和应用有指导作用. 关键词： 准一维纳米线 梯度无序 电子输运     

Intradot spin-flip Andreev reflection tunneling through a ferromagnet-quantum dot-superconductor system with ac field

We investigate Andreev reflection (AR) tunneling through a ferromagnet-quantum dot-superconductor (F-QD-S) system in the presence of an external ac field. The intradot spin-flip scattering in the QD is involved. Using the nonequilibrium Green function and BCS quasiparticle spectrum for superconductor, time-averaged AR conductance is formulated. The competition between the intradot spin-flip scattering and photon-assisted tunneling dominates the resonant behaviors of the time-averaged AR conductance. For weak intradot spin-flip scattering strengths, the AR conductance shows a series of equal interval resonant levels. However, the single-peak at main resonant level develops into a well-resolved double-peak resonance at a strong intradot spin-flip scattering strength. Remarkable, multiple-photon-assisted tunneling that generates photonic sideband peaks with a variable interval has been found. In addition, the AR conductance-bias voltage characteristic shows a transition between the single-peak to double-peak resonance as the ratio of the two tunneling strengths varies.     

STM中量子点接触的电导计算

采用模式匹配和散射矩阵方法，对扫描隧道显微镜(STM)中量子点接触过程中的电导进行了计算.结果表明由量子点接触形成的纳米结构的电导呈现量子化特征，这种量子化现象随所形成的纳米结构的横向尺寸和锥角的减小而增强.而且在半导体材料中比金属中更易观察到电导量子化现象. 关键词： STM 量子点接触 量子化电导     

Transport properties of granular metals at low temperatures

We investigate transport in a granular metallic system at large tunneling conductance between the grains, g(T)>1. We show that at low temperatures, Tg(T)delta) behavior where conductivity is controlled by the scales of the order of the grain size. In three dimensions we predict the metal-insulator transition at the bare tunneling conductance g(C)(T)=(1/6pi)ln((E(C)/delta), where E(C) is the charging energy of a single grain. Corrections to the density of states of granular metals due to the electron-electron interaction are calculated. Our results compare favorably with the logarithmic dependence of resistivity in the high-T(c) cuprate superconductors indicating that these materials may have a granular structure.     

自旋轨道耦合作用下石墨烯pn结的电子输运性质

本文研究了自旋轨道耦合作用下石墨烯纳米带pn结的电子输运性质. 当粒子的入射能量处于pn结两端势能之间时, 粒子将会以隧穿的形式通过石墨烯pn结, 同时伴随着电子空穴转换. 电导随费米能的变化曲线呈不等高阶梯状, 并在费米能位于pn结两端能量中点时取得最大值. 随着石墨烯pn结长度的增加, 电导以指数形式衰减. 自旋轨道耦合作用导致的能隙会使电导显著减小, 而边缘态的粒子则可以几乎毫无阻碍地通过pn结. 本文用一个简单的子带隧穿模型解释了上述特征. 最后还研究了在pn转换区中掺入替位杂质的情况. 在弱杂质下, 电导随费米能变化的曲线将不再对称; 当杂质较强时, 仅边界态的形成的电导台阶能够保持.     

Tunneling into a Luttinger liquid revisited

We study how electron-electron interactions renormalize tunneling into a Luttinger liquid beyond the lowest order of perturbation in the tunneling amplitude. We find that the conventional fixed point has a finite basin of attraction only in the point contact model, but a finite size of the contact makes it generically unstable to the tunneling-induced breakup of the liquid into two independent parts. In the course of renormalization to the nonperturbative-in-tunneling fixed point, the tunneling conductance may show a nonmonotonic behavior with temperature or bias voltage.