States decoupled from the surface in short Si atomic chains

TL;DR

This study investigates atomic states decoupled from the substrate in short silicon chains on a surface, combining STM experiments and theoretical analysis to reveal their properties, signatures, and dynamics at high energies.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of substrate-decoupled atomic states in silicon chains and demonstrates their signatures and dynamics through combined experimental and theoretical methods.

Findings

Decoupled states significantly influence STM imaging and topography.

These states exhibit oscillatory behavior over finite timescales.

The relaxation mechanism is universal and chain-length independent.

Abstract

We analyze both the stationary and time-dependent properties of molecular states in atomic chains on a surface, some of which are composed of atomic states decoupled from the substrate - a phenomenon analogous to dark states in quantum dot systems. To illustrate this effect at the atomic scale, we performed scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) experiments on short silicon chains fabricated on a Si(553)-Au surface. In contrast to quantum dots, which typically involve characteristic energies in the meV range or lower, the atomic chains studied here operate in a high-energy regime, with energies in the eV range. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the local density of states of the chains carries clear signatures of these decoupled states, which significantly affect STM imaging. The topography becomes highly sensitive to the bias polarity, to the extent that some atomic sites may appear nearly invisible to the STM tip. Our time-resolved theoretical analysis reveals that these decoupled states emerge over a finite time interval. This oscillatory dynamical evolution, primarily driven by nearest-neighbor interactions, suggests a universal relaxation mechanism that is largely insensitive to the length of the atomic chain.