Gold Interlayer Promotes Superconductivity in Single and Double Atomic Pb Layers on Si(100).

Introducing an atomic Au monolayer between a Pb film and a Si(100) substrate allows us to fabricate Pb films with single- and double-atom thicknesses. The Pb films have a 2D square-lattice structure with the 1D atomic chains of Pb adatoms on their top, forming Si(100)1 × 7-(Pb, Au) and Si(100)5 × 1-(Pb, Au) superstructures for single and double atomic Pb layers, respectively. Their common characteristic feature is the occurrence of bundles of quasi-1D metallic bands. Transport measurements showed that samples with a Au interlayer demonstrate enhanced superconductor properties, as compared to Pb layers grown on the bare Si(100) surface. Toward improved superconductor properties, the (Pb, Au)/Si(100) system successively avoids risks associated with possible intermixing between adsorbate layers and substrate, as well as with possible Peierls transition into an insulator state, typical for the 1D systems. This finding opens new ways to control low-dimensional superconductivity at the atomic-scale limit.

Solving a Long-Standing Problem Regarding Atomic Structure of Si(100)2×3-Ag.

The atomic structure of the Si(100)2×3-Ag reconstruction has remained unknown for more than 25 years since its first observation with scanning tunneling microscopy, despite a relatively small unit cell and seeming abundance of the available experimental data. We propose a structural model of the Si(100)3×2-Ag reconstruction which comfortably fits all the principal experimental findings, including our own and those reported in the literature. The model incorporates 3 Si atoms and 4 Ag atoms per the 2 × 3 unit cell forming linear atomic chains along the 3aSi-periodic direction. A peculiar feature of the Si(100)2×3-Ag structure is the occurrence of the inner Si dimers in the second atomic layer from the top of the Si(100) substrate. The reconstruction is proved to possess semiconducting properties.

The manipulation of C60 in molecular arrays with an STM tip in regimes below the decomposition threshold.

The ability of scanning tunneling microscopy to manipulate selected C(60) molecules within close packed C(60) arrays on a (Au,In)/Si(111) surface has been examined for mild conditions below the decomposition threshold. It has been found that knockout of the chosen C(60) molecule (i.e., vacancy formation) and shifting of the C(60) molecule to the neighboring vacant site (if available) can be conducted for wide ranges of bias voltages (from -1.5 to +0.5 V), characteristic manipulation currents (from 0.02 to 100 nA) and powers (from 2 × 10(-8) to 0.1 µW). This result implies that the manipulation is not associated with the electrical effects but rather has a purely mechanical origin. The main requirement for successful C(60) knockout has been found to be to ensure a proper 'impact parameter' (deviation from central impact on the C(60) sphere by the tip apex), which should be less than ~1.5 Å. A certain difference has been detected for the manipulation of C(60) in extended molecular arrays and molecular islands of a limited size. While it is possible to manipulate a single C(60) molecule in an array, in the case of a C(60) island it appears difficult to manipulate a given fullerene without affecting the other ones constituting the island.