RESUMEN
Temperature-dependent electron transport in a metallic surface superstructure, Si(111)sqrt[3] x sqrt[3]-Ag, was studied by a micro-four-point probe method and photoemission spectroscopy. The surface-state conductivity exhibits a sharp transition from metallic conduction to strong localization at approximately 150 K. The metallic regime is due to electron-phonon interaction while the localization seemingly originates from coherency of electron waves. Random potential variations, caused by Friedel oscillations of surface electrons around defects, likely induce strong carrier localization.
RESUMEN
We have devised a "square micro-four-point probe method" using an independently driven ultrahigh-vacuum four-tip scanning tunneling microscope, and succeeded for the first time to directly measure anisotropic electrical conductance of a single-atomic layer on a solid surface. A quasi-one-dimensional metal of a single-domain Si(111)4 x 1-In had a surface-state conductance along the metallic atom chains (sigma(axially)) to be 7.2(+/-0.6) x 10(-4) S/square at room temperature, which was larger than that in the perpendicular direction (sigma(radially)) by approximately 60 times. The sigma(axially) was consistently interpreted by a Boltzmann equation with the anisotropic surface-state band dispersion, while the sigma(radially) was dominated by a surface-space-charge-layer conductance.