Search results for " Tunnel"

Quantum Well States in Two-Dimensional Gold Clusters on MgO Thin Films

2008

The electronic structure of ultra-small Au clusters on thin MgO/Ag(001) films has been analyzed by scanning tunneling spectroscopy and density functional theory. The clusters exhibit two-dimensional (2D) quantum well states, whose shapes resemble the eigen-states of a 2D electron gas confined in a parabolic potential. From the symmetries of the HOMO and LUMO of a particular cluster, its electron filling and charge state is determined. In accordance to a DFT Bader-charge analysis, aggregates containing up to twenty atoms accumulate one to four extra electrons due to a charge transfer from the MgO/Ag interface. The HOMO - LUMO gap is found to close for clusters containing between 70 and 100 a…

Structural and Magnetic Properties of Co-Fe Binary Alloy Monolayers on W(110)

2003

We present an experimental investigation of ${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{o}}_{x}{\mathrm{F}\mathrm{e}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}$ monolayers grown on flat and stepped W(110) surfaces. Atomically resolved scanning tunneling microscopy and low energy electron diffraction reveal continuous miscibility and pseudomorphic growth of Co and Fe for $0\ensuremath{\le}xl0.6$. We observe short range ordered ${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{F}\mathrm{e}}_{3}$-$p(2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2)$ and CoFe-$c(2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2)$ structures in the pseudomorphic monolayer. High Co concentrations lead to a phase separation. The Curie temperature and the ferromagnetic Kerr signal at low temperatures decr…

Real-space Wigner-Seitz Cells Imaging of Potassium on Graphite via Elastic Atomic Manipulation

2015

Atomic manipulation in the scanning tunnelling microscopy, conventionally a tool to build nanostructures one atom at a time, is here employed to enable the atomic-scale imaging of a model low-dimensional system. Specifically, we use low-temperature STM to investigate an ultra thin film (4 atomic layers) of potassium created by epitaxial growth on a graphite substrate. The STM images display an unexpected honeycomb feature, which corresponds to a real-space visualization of the Wigner-Seitz cells of the close-packed surface K atoms. Density functional simulations indicate that this behaviour arises from the elastic, tip-induced vertical manipulation of potassium atoms during imaging, i.e. el…

Direct observation of second-order atom tunnelling

2007

Tunnelling of material particles through a classically impenetrable barrier constitutes one of the hallmark effects of quantum physics. When interactions between the particles compete with their mobility through a tunnel junction, intriguing novel dynamical behaviour can arise where particles do not tunnel independently. In single-electron or Bloch transistors, for example, the tunnelling of an electron or Cooper pair can be enabled or suppressed by the presence of a second charge carrier due to Coulomb blockade. Here we report on the first direct and time-resolved observation of correlated tunnelling of two interacting atoms through a barrier in a double well potential. We show that for we…

2015

AbstractAtomic manipulation in the scanning tunnelling microscopy, conventionally a tool to build nanostructures one atom at a time, is here employed to enable the atomic-scale imaging of a model low-dimensional system. Specifically, we use low-temperature STM to investigate an ultra thin film (4 atomic layers) of potassium created by epitaxial growth on a graphite substrate. The STM images display an unexpected honeycomb feature, which corresponds to a real-space visualization of the Wigner-Seitz cells of the close-packed surface K atoms. Density functional simulations indicate that this behaviour arises from the elastic, tip-induced vertical manipulation of potassium atoms during imaging,…

Wide-range thermometer based on the temperature-dependent conductance of planar tunnel junctions

2000

The effect of the Fermi–Dirac distribution on the current through standard planar tunnel junctions is a suitable basis for thermometry in a wide temperature range. In particular, it extends the range spanned by Coulomb-blockade thermometers up to room temperature.

Competition of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya and Higher-Order Exchange Interactions in Rh/Fe Atomic Bilayers on Ir(111)

2018

Using spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory we demonstrate the occurrence of a novel type of noncollinear spin structure in $\mathrm{Rh}/\mathrm{Fe}$ atomic bilayers on Ir(111). We find that higher-order exchange interactions depend sensitively on the stacking sequence. For fcc-$\mathrm{Rh}/\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{Ir}(111)$, frustrated exchange interactions are dominant and lead to the formation of a spin spiral ground state with a period of about 1.5 nm. For hcp-$\mathrm{Rh}/\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{Ir}(111)$, higher-order exchange interactions favor an up-up-down-down ($\ensuremath{\uparrow}\ensuremath{\uparrow}\ensuremath{\downarrow}\ensuremath{\downarrow}$) s…

Persistent currents in a circular array of Bose-Einstein condensates

2002

A ring-shaped array of Bose-Einstein condensed atomic gases can display circular currents if the relative phase of neighboring condensates becomes locked to certain values. It is shown that, irrespective of the mechanism responsible for generating these states, only a restricted set of currents are stable, depending on the number of condensates, on the interaction and tunneling energies, and on the total number of particles. Different instabilities due to quasiparticle excitations are characterized and possible experimental setups for testing the stability prediction are also discussed.

Asymmetric Tunneling Conductance and the non-Fermi Liquid Behavior of Strongly Correlated Fermi Systems

2018

Tunneling differential conductivity (or resistivity) is a sensitive tool to experimentally test the nonFermi liquid behavior of strongly correlated Fermi systems. In the case of common metals the Landau– Fermi liquid theory demonstrates that the differential conductivity is a symmetric function of bias voltage V . This is because the particle-hole symmetry is conserved in the Landau–Fermi liquid state. When a strongly correlated Fermi system turns out to be near the topological fermion condensation quantum phase transition, its Landau–Fermi liquid properties disappear so that the particle-hole symmetry breaks making the differential tunneling conductivity to be asymmetric function of V . Th…

Surface Acoustic Bloch Oscillations, the Wannier-Stark Ladder, and Landau-Zener Tunneling in a Solid

2010

We present the experimental observation of Bloch oscillations, the Wannier-Stark ladder, and Landau-Zener tunneling of surface acoustic waves in perturbed grating structures on a solid substrate. A model providing a quantitative description of our experimental observations, including multiple Landau-Zener transitions of the anticrossed surface acoustic Wannier-Stark states, is developed. The use of a planar geometry for the realization of the Bloch oscillations and Landau-Zener tunneling allows a direct access to the elastic field distribution. The vertical surface displacement has been measured by interferometry.