Non-local atomic manipulation by site-specific charge injection from an STM tip: tales from the Physics East basement

Add to your list(s) Download to your calendar using vCal

• Dr Peter Sloan, U of Birmingham
• Thursday 18 March 2010, 13:45-15:00
• Theory Library.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Dr Dimitri M Gangardt.

I’ll report the non-local desorption of chlorobenzene molecules from the Si(111)-7×7 surface by charge injection from the laterally distant tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) and demonstrate remote control of the manipulation process by precise selection of the atomic site for injection. Non-local desorption is found for both electrons and holes and decays exponentially as a function of radial distance from the injection site (typical decay constants are ~ 100 Å). At a surface bias voltage of +2.7 V, it is electron injection at corner-hole and faulted middle adatoms sites which couples preferentially to the desorption of distant adsorbate molecules, in good agreement with spectroscopic maps of the surface density of electronic states. The non-local results reported here also call for a general re-evaluation of the cross-sections reported in STM manipulation experiments performed by scanning the surface, electron beam and indeed photo-induced surface chemistry.

This talk is part of the Theoretical Physics Seminars series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Bham Talks
• Theoretical Physics Seminars
• Theory Library
• What's on in Physics?

Note that ex-directory lists are not shown.