Anisotropic dispersion and partial localization of acoustic surface plasmons on an atomically stepped surface: Au(788).

Understanding acoustic surface plasmons (ASPs) in the presence of nanosized gratings is necessary for the development of future devices that couple light with ASPs. We show here by experiment and theory that two ASPs exist on Au(788), a vicinal surface with an ordered array of monoatomic steps. The ASPs propagate across the steps as long as their wavelength exceeds the terrace width, thereafter becoming localized. Our investigation identifies, for the first time, ASPs coupled with intersubband transitions involving multiple surface-state subbands.

Correlated motion of electrons on the Au(111) surface: anomalous acoustic surface-plasmon dispersion and single-particle excitations.

The linear dispersion of the low-dimensional acoustic surface plasmon (ASP) opens perspectives in energy conversion, transport, and confinement far below optical frequencies. Although the ASP exists in a wide class of materials, ranging from metal surfaces and ultrathin films to graphene and topological insulators, its properties are still largely unexplored. Taking Au(111) as a model system, our combined experimental and theoretical study revealed an intriguing interplay between collective and single particle excitations, causing the ASP associated with the Shockley surface state to be embedded within the intraband transitions without losing its sharp character and linear dispersion.

Fermi nesting between atomic wires with strong spin-orbit coupling.

The mutual interplay between superlattice structures, band filling factors, and spin-orbit coupling results in a highly correlated electronic spin and charge state found for an array of atomic Pb wires grown on Si(557). By means of spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, the spin texture close to the Fermi surface was found to be alternating and equidistant; thus, Fermi nesting occurs in between bands with the same spin helicity, giving rise to spin-polarized charge-density waves in the direction across the wires. An out-of-phase superposition of both Rashba channels is manifested by an extraordinary large Rashba splitting of Δk0=0.2 Å(-1)=g/2, where g is a reciprocal lattice vector defined by the interwire distance and fits into the model of spin-density waves in antiferromagnetically ordered chain structures. The implications towards spin-polarized transport along the wires will be discussed.

Temperature stability of ultra-thin mixed BaSr-oxide layers and their transformation.

In the context of investigations of physical, chemical and electrical properties of ultra-thin layers of epitaxial and monocrystalline Sr(0.3)Ba(0.7)O on Si(100), we also investigated their thermal stability with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), and low energy electron diffraction (LEED). At temperatures above 400 °C, transformation into silicate layers sets in. The stoichiometry after complete transformation was determined to be close to (Ba(0.8)Sr(0.2))(2)SiO(4) except for layers of only a few monolayers, where the silicate is not stoichiometric. There are strong indications that this silicate is stable until it desorbs at temperatures above 750 °C. Crystallinity, as seen with LEED, is lost during this transformation. Although transformation into silicate is coupled with metal desorption and compactification of the layers, they seem to remain closed. In addition, traces of Ba silicide at the Si interface were detected after layer desorption. This silicide cannot be desorbed thermally. The silicate layer has a bandgap of 5.9 ± 0.2 eV already for 3 ML thickness. Upon exposure to air, carbon and oxygen containing species, but no hydroxide, are formed irreversibly.

Plasmon electron-hole resonance in epitaxial graphene.

The quasiparticle dynamics of the sheet plasmons in epitaxially grown graphene layers on SiC(0001) has been studied systematically as a function of temperature, intrinsic defects, influence of multilayers and carrier density using electron energy loss spectroscopy with high energy and momentum resolution. The opening of an inter-band decay channel appears as an anomalous kink in the plasmon dispersion which we describe as a resonance effect in the formation of electron-hole pairs. Due to the inevitable strong coupling of plasmons with single particle excitations in reduced dimensions, such signatures are generally expected.

Plasmon localization by adatoms in gold atomic wires on Si(775).

Self-organized gold chains on vicinal Si(111) surfaces represent prototype examples of quasi-one-dimensional objects that are stabilized by hybridization with Si surface states. Their plasmons contain important information about the unoccupied bandstructure close to the Fermi level. Using Si(775)-Au as an example, we report here the modifications of the plasmon dispersion by the simple atomic adatom species H and O. Using a combination of low energy electron diffraction and high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy, we study the interconnection between plasmonic excitation and the corresponding local surface structure. Both adsorbates do not destroy metallicity, but, similar to Si(553)-Au, atomic hydrogen enhances dimerization of the Au chains, which at small concentrations counteracts the disorder introduced by random adsorption. This effect, most likely caused by electron donation of H to the surface states, is missing in case of adsorbed oxygen, so that only the effect of disorder is observed. For both adsorbates increasing disorder as a function of adsorbate concentration finally results in plasmon localization and opening of a band gap.

Anisotropic 2D metallicity: plasmons in Ge(1 0 0)-Au.

The low-energy plasmonic excitations of the Ge(0 0 1)-Au close to one monolayer coverage of Au were investigated by momentum-resolved high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy. A very weak plasmonic loss was identified dispersing along the chain direction of the [Formula: see text] formed at these Au coverages. The measured dispersion was compared with the Tomonaga-Luttinger-liquid (TLL) model and with a model for an anisotropic Fermi liquid. Using the TLL model both for single and arrays of wires, no consistent picture turned up that could describe all available data. On the contrary, a quasi-one-dimensional model of a confined 2D electron gas gave a satisfactorily consistent description of the data. From these results for the collective low-energy excitations we conclude that the Ge(0 0 1)-Au system is reasonably well described by a strongly anisotropic 2D Fermi liquid, but is incompatible with a TLL.

Electromigration and morphological changes in Ag nanostructures.

Electromigration (EM) as a structuring tool was investigated in Ag nanowires (width 300 nm, thickness 25 nm) and partly in notched and bow-tie Ag structures on a Si(1 0 0) substrate in ultra-high vacuum using a four-tip scanning tunneling microscope in combination with a scanning electron microscope. From simulations of Ag nanowires we got estimates of temperature profiles, current density profiles, EM and thermal migration (TM) mass flux distributions within the nanowire induced by critical current densities of 108 A cm-2. At room temperature, the electron wind force at these current densities by far dominates over thermal diffusion, and is responsible for formation of voids at the cathode and hillocks at the anode side. For current densities that exceed the critical current densities necessary for EM, a new type of wire-like structure formation was found both at room temperature and at 100 K for notched and bow-tie structures. This suggests that the simultaneous action of EM and TM is structure forming, but with a very small influence of TM at low temperature.

Lateral electronic screening in quasi-one-dimensional plasmons.

The properties of one-dimensional (1D) plasmons are rather unexplored. We investigated the plasmonic collective excitations, measured as one-dimensional plasmon dispersions with electron energy loss spectroscopy, highly resolved both in energy and lateral momentum, for both phases of Au induced chains on stepped Si(553) substrates. We observe 1D dispersions that are strongly influenced by the lateral chain width and by the interchain coupling. Indications for the existence of two different plasmons originating from two surface bands of the systems are given for the low coverage phase.

The 100th anniversary of the four-point probe technique: the role of probe geometries in isotropic and anisotropic systems.

The electrical conductivity of solid-state matter is a fundamental physical property and can be precisely derived from the resistance measured via the four-point probe technique excluding contributions from parasitic contact resistances. Over time, this method has become an interdisciplinary characterization tool in materials science, semiconductor industries, geology, physics, etc, and is employed for both fundamental and application-driven research. However, the correct derivation of the conductivity is a demanding task which faces several difficulties, e.g. the homogeneity of the sample or the isotropy of the phases. In addition, these sample-specific characteristics are intimately related to technical constraints such as the probe geometry and size of the sample. In particular, the latter is of importance for nanostructures which can now be probed technically on very small length scales. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the four-point probe technique, introduced by Frank Wenner, in this review we revisit and discuss various correction factors which are mandatory for an accurate derivation of the resistivity from the measured resistance. Among others, sample thickness, dimensionality, anisotropy, and the relative size and geometry of the sample with respect to the contact assembly are considered. We are also able to derive the correction factors for 2D anisotropic systems on circular finite areas with variable probe spacings. All these aspects are illustrated by state-of-the-art experiments carried out using a four-tip STM/SEM system. We are aware that this review article can only cover some of the most important topics. Regarding further aspects, e.g. technical realizations, the influence of inhomogeneities or different transport regimes, etc, we refer to other review articles in this field.

Observation of correlated spin-orbit order in a strongly anisotropic quantum wire system.

Quantum wires with spin-orbit coupling provide a unique opportunity to simultaneously control the coupling strength and the screened Coulomb interactions where new exotic phases of matter can be explored. Here we report on the observation of an exotic spin-orbit density wave in Pb-atomic wires on Si(557) surfaces by mapping out the evolution of the modulated spin-texture at various conditions with spin- and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. The results are independently quantified by surface transport measurements. The spin polarization, coherence length, spin dephasing rate and the associated quasiparticle gap decrease simultaneously as the screened Coulomb interaction decreases with increasing excess coverage, providing a new mechanism for generating and manipulating a spin-orbit entanglement effect via electronic interaction. Despite clear evidence of spontaneous spin-rotation symmetry breaking and modulation of spin-momentum structure as a function of excess coverage, the average spin polarization over the Brillouin zone vanishes, indicating that time-reversal symmetry is intact as theoretically predicted.

Scattering of charge carriers by Cr impurities in magnetotransport on a Bi(1 1 1) ultra-thin film.

In this investigation we tested the role of Cr impurities on the strongly spin-polarized surface states of ultra-thin epitaxially grown Bi(1 1 1) films by measuring surface magnetoconductance and the Hall effect in conjunction with low-energy electron diffraction at a low temperature (10 K). Compared with Fe and Co, investigated recently, Cr atoms turned out to have scattering cross-sections that are about a factor of three higher than the former atoms. Nevertheless, only a small electron donation (0.03 e/atom) was found for Cr. It also exhibits strong spin-orbit scattering, as judged from quantitative analysis of weak localization effects. As a result, all spin-dependent selection rules are gradually relaxed with increasing Cr concentration, so that the initially observed weak anti-localization shifts towards weak localization. The non-monotonic decrease of conductance as a function of Cr concentration, even at 10 K, indicates high diffusivity and activated adsorption into its final optimal adsorption site.

One-dimensional collective excitations in Ag atomic wires grown on Si(557).

The interaction between adsorbate layers of transition metal atoms and strongly anisotropic surfaces can lead to various quasi-one-dimensional (1D) signatures, as demonstrated here for Ag adsorbed on Si(557). Using low energy electron diffraction in combination with scanning tunneling microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy, we correlated the structure with the properties of low dimensional collective excitations. Semiconducting structures with double periodicity along the chains are formed at Ag coverages below 0.3 ML. At higher coverages, the formation of wires with (√3 × âˆš3) order sets in. Only these wires are metallic, as is evident from the appearance of plasmonic losses, which show 1D dispersion only along the wires. This 1D property even persists up to one monolayer, where a densely packed array of metallic (√3 × âˆš3) stripes is formed. The triple steps between the wires are obviously insulating. Only plasmonic subband transitions are visible, which are characteristic for quasi-1D metallic stripes of finite width.

Multiple plasmon excitations in adsorbed two-dimensional systems.

Using monolayer graphene as a model system for a purely two-dimensional (2D) electron gas, we show by energy electron loss spectroscopy, highly resolved both in energy and momentum, that there is a significant probability for the excitation of not only one but two dispersing losses. The appearance of both losses is independent of the substrate (we tested graphene on the Si face of 6H-SiC(0001), and on Ir(111) without and with an intercalated Na layer), and the ratio of the slope in the dispersion curves varies between 1.4 (SiC) and 2. While the lower dispersion curve can be attributed to the excitation of the sheet plasmon, in agreement with theoretical model calculations, the upper dispersion branch has not been identified before for plasmonic excitations in a 2D electron gas, and we assign it tentatively to the excitation of a multipole sheet plasmon.