Observation of electronic states on Si(111)-(7 x 7) through short-range attractive force with noncontact atomic force spectroscopy

We experimentally reveal that the short-range attractive force between a Si tip and a Si(111)-(7 x 7) surface is enhanced at specified bias voltages; we conduct force spectroscopy based on noncontact atomic force microscopy with changing bias voltage at a fixed separation. The spectra exhibit prominent peaks and a broad peak, which are attributed to quantum mechanical resonance as the energy levels of sample surface states are tuned to those of the tip states by shifting the Fermi level through changing bias voltage, and to the resonating states over a lowered tunneling barrier, respectively.