4 research outputs found
Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy of sodium-chloride overlayers on the stepped Cu(311) surface: Experimental and theoretical study
The physical properties of ultrathin NaCl overlayers on the stepped Cu(311)
surface have been characterized using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and
spectroscopy, and density functional calculations. Simulations of STM images
and differential conductance spectrum were based on the Tersoff-Hamann
approximation for tunneling with corrections for the modified tunneling barrier
at larger voltages and calculated Kohn-Sham states. Characteristic features
observed in the STM images can be directly related to calculated electronic and
geometric properties of the overlayers. The measured apparent barrier heights
for the mono-, bi-, and trilayers of NaCl and the corresponding
adsorption-induced changes in the work function, as obtained from the distance
dependence of the tunneling current, are well reproduced by and understood from
the calculated results. The measurements revealed a large reduction of the
tunneling conductance in a wide voltage region, resembling a band gap. However,
the simulated spectrum showed that only the onset at positive sample voltages
may be viewed as a valence band edge, whereas the onset at negative voltages is
caused by the drastic effect of the electric field from the tip on the
tunneling barrier
Vicinal Surface with Langmuir Adsorption: A Decorated Restricted Solid-on-solid Model
We study the vicinal surface of the restricted solid-on-solid model coupled
with the Langmuir adsorbates which we regard as two-dimensional lattice gas
without lateral interaction. The effect of the vapor pressure of the adsorbates
in the environmental phase is taken into consideration through the chemical
potential. We calculate the surface free energy , the adsorption coverage
, the step tension , and the step stiffness by
the transfer matrix method combined with the density-matrix algorithm. Detailed
step-density-dependence of and is obtained. We draw the roughening
transition curve in the plane of the temperature and the chemical potential of
adsorbates. We find the multi-reentrant roughening transition accompanying the
inverse roughening phenomena. We also find quasi-reentrant behavior in the step
tension.Comment: 7 pages, 12 figures (png format), RevTeX 3.1, submitted to Phys. Rev.