corner
corner
APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. B » Volume 67 » Issue 20
< Previous Article | Next Article >

Phys. Rev. B 67, 201402(R) (2003) [4 pages]

Single-atom manipulation mechanisms during a quantum corral construction

Download: PDF (589 kB) Buy this article Export: BibTeX or EndNote (RIS)

Saw-Wai Hla*
Nanoscale & Quantum Phenomena Institute, Physics & Astronomy Department, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701

Kai-Felix Braun and Karl-Heinz Rieder
Institut für Experimentalphysik, Freie Universität Berlin, D-14195 Berlin, Germany

Received 21 January 2003; published 27 May 2003

We describe a complete picture of how single Ag atoms move on the various potential energy landscapes of an Ag(111) surface during a quantum corral construction by using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip at 6 K. The threshold tunneling resistance and tip-height to move the Ag atom across the surface are experimentally measured as 210±19 kΩ and 1.3±0.2 Å. The experimental atom manipulation signals reveal remarkably detailed atom movement behaviors dependent on the surface crystallographic orientation and offer atomic-level tribology information.

© 2003 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.67.201402
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevB.67.201402
PACS:
81.16.Ta, 46.55.+d, 68.37.Ef, 85.35.-p

*Corresponding author. Email: hla@helios.phy.ohiou.edu, Web: www.phy.ohiou.edu/∼hla

 
< Previous Article | Next Article >