Scanning tunneling microscopy of monoatomic gold chains on vicinal Si(335) surface: experimental and theoretical study

TL;DR

This paper combines experimental STM and RHEED techniques with theoretical modeling to analyze the electronic and topographic properties of gold chains on Si(335) surfaces, revealing voltage-dependent oscillations explained by a Hubbard model.

Contribution

It provides a combined experimental and theoretical analysis of Au chains on Si(335), including STM current calculations using nonequilibrium Green functions, which is novel.

Findings

Voltage-dependent oscillations in STM measurements

Agreement between experimental data and Hubbard model simulations

Insight into electronic properties of Au chains on Si(335)

Abstract

We study electronic and topographic properties of the Si(335) surface, containing Au wires parallel to the steps. We use scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) supplemented by reflection of high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) technique. The STM data show the space and voltage dependent oscillations of the distance between STM tip and the surface which can be explained within one band tight binding Hubbard model. We calculate the STM current using nonequilibrium Keldysh Green function formalism.