Theory of Single-Atom Imaging in the Scanning Tunneling Microscope
- 17 March 1986
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters
- Vol. 56 (11) , 1164-1167
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.56.1164
Abstract
The tunneling-current density is computed in the vacuum region between two planar metal electrodes, on each of which is an adsorbed atom. Scanning of one atom (taken as the tip) past the other (the sample) permits plotting of tip displacement versus lateral separation for constant current. The calculation shows the extent to which scanning-tunneling-microscope images of an individual atom are visible. It confirms that for low bias, the microscope images the Fermi-level local density of states of the sample at the position of the tip.Keywords
This publication has 14 references indexed in Scilit:
- Real-space observation ofπ-bonded chains and surface disorder on Si(111)2×1Physical Review Letters, 1986
- Tunneling Images of Atomic Steps on the Si(111)7×7 SurfacePhysical Review Letters, 1985
- Si(001) Dimer Structure Observed with Scanning Tunneling MicroscopyPhysical Review Letters, 1985
- Theory of the scanning tunneling microscopePhysical Review B, 1985
- Real-Space Observation of the 2×1 Structure of Chemisorbed Oxygen on Ni(110) by Scanning Tunneling MicroscopyPhysical Review Letters, 1984
- A theory of vacuum tunneling microscopyPhysics Letters A, 1983
- Theory and Application for the Scanning Tunneling MicroscopePhysical Review Letters, 1983
- Model Theory for Scanning Tunneling Microscopy: Application to Au(110) (1×2)Physical Review Letters, 1983
- 7 × 7 Reconstruction on Si(111) Resolved in Real SpacePhysical Review Letters, 1983
- Surface Studies by Scanning Tunneling MicroscopyPhysical Review Letters, 1982