Diffractive wave guiding of hot electrons by the Au (111) herringbone reconstruction

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that hot electrons with significantly higher energies than the surface potential can be guided along Au(111) surface channels, with efficiency increasing at higher energies, explained by diffraction effects.

Contribution

It reveals that hot electrons are guided by the Au(111) herringbone reconstruction through diffraction, extending understanding of electron guiding beyond low-energy regimes.

Findings

Hot electrons with energies 20 times the potential amplitude are guided.

Guiding efficiency increases with electron kinetic energy.

Diffraction at electrostatic potential and strain causes guiding.

Abstract

The surface potential of the herringbone reconstruction on Au(111) is known to guide surface-state electrons along the potential channels. Surprisingly, we find by scanning tunneling spectroscopy that hot electrons with kinetic energies twenty times larger than the potential amplitude (38 meV) are still guided. The efficiency even increases with kinetic energy, which is reproduced by a tight binding calculation taking the known reconstruction potential and strain into account. The guiding is explained by diffraction at the inhomogeneous electrostatic potential and strain distribution provided by the reconstruction.