88 research outputs found
How kinetics drives the two- to three-dimensional transition in semiconductor strained heterostructures: the case of InAs/GaAs(001)
The two- to three-dimensional growth transition in the InAs/GaAs(001)
heterostructure has been investigated by atomic force microscopy. The kinetics
of the density of three dimensional quantum dots evidences two transition
thresholds at 1.45 and 1.59 ML of InAs coverage, corresponding to two separate
families, small and large. Based on the scaling analysis, such families are
characterized by different mechanisms of aggregation, involving the change of
the critical nucleus size. Remarkably, the small ones give rise to a wealth of
"monomers" through the erosion of the step edges, favoring the explosive
nucleation of the large ones.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Ferromagnetic coupling of mononuclear Fe centers in a self-assembled metal-organic network on Au(111)
The magnetic state and magnetic coupling of individual atoms in nanoscale
structures relies on a delicate balance between different interactions with the
atomic-scale surrounding. Using scanning tunneling microscopy, we resolve the
self-assembled formation of highly ordered bilayer structures of Fe atoms and
organic linker molecules (T4PT) when deposited on a Au(111) surface. The Fe
atoms are encaged in a three-dimensional coordination motif by three T4PT
molecules in the surface plane and an additional T4PT unit on top. Within this
crystal field, the Fe atoms retain a magnetic ground state with easy-axis
anisotropy, as evidenced by X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray magnetic
circular dichroism. The magnetization curves reveal the existence of
ferromagnetic coupling between the Fe centers
Single 3 transition metal atoms on multi-layer graphene systems: electronic configurations, bonding mechanisms and role of the substrate
The electronic configurations of Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu adatoms on graphene and
graphite have been studied by x-ray magnetic circular dichroism and charge
transfer multiplet theory. A delicate interplay between long-range interactions
and local chemical bonding is found to influence the adatom equilibrium
distance and magnetic moment. The results for Fe and Co are consistent with
purely physisorbed species having, however, different 3-shell occupancies on
graphene and graphite ( and , respectively). On the other hand,
for the late 3 metals Ni and Cu a trend towards chemisorption is found,
which strongly quenches the magnetic moment on both substrates.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Origin of interface magnetism in BiMnO3/SrTiO3 and LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures
Possible ferromagnetism induced in otherwise non-magnetic materials has been
motivating intense research in complex oxide heterostructures. Here we show
that a confined magnetism is realized at the interface between SrTiO3 and two
insulating polar oxides, BiMnO3 and LaAlO3. By using polarization dependent
x-ray absorption spectroscopy, we find that in both cases the magnetic order is
stabilized by a negative exchange interaction between the electrons transferred
to the interface and local magnetic moments. These local magnetic moments are
associated to Ti3+ ions at the interface itself for LaAlO3/SrTiO3 and to Mn3+
ions in the overlayer for BiMnO3/SrTiO3. In LaAlO3/SrTiO3 the induced magnetic
moments are quenched by annealing in oxygen, suggesting a decisive role of
oxygen vacancies in the stabilization of interfacial magnetism.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
In-plane magnetic anisotropy of Fe atoms on BiSe(111)
The robustness of the gapless topological surface state hosted by a 3D
topological insulator against perturbations of magnetic origin has been the
focus of recent investigations. We present a comprehensive study of the
magnetic properties of Fe impurities on a prototypical 3D topological insulator
BiSe using local low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and
integral x-ray magnetic circular dichroism techniques. Single Fe adatoms on the
BiSe surface, in the coverage range are heavily relaxed
into the surface and exhibit a magnetic easy axis within the surface-plane,
contrary to what was assumed in recent investigations on the opening of a gap.
Using \textit{ab initio} approaches, we demonstrate that an in-plane easy axis
arises from the combination of the crystal field and dynamic hybridization
effects.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, typos correcte
Termination-dependent surface properties in the giant-Rashba semiconductors BiTeX (X=Cl, Br, I)
Under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 (CC-BY).The noncentrosymmetric semiconductors BiTeX(X=Cl,Br,I) show large Rashba-type spin-orbit splittings in their electronic structure making them candidate materials for spin-based electronics. However, BiTeI(0001) single-crystal surfaces usually consist of stacking-fault-induced domains of Te and I terminations implying a spatially inhomogeneous electronic structure. Here we combine scanning tunneling microscopy, photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES, XPS), and density functional theory calculations to systematically investigate the structural and electronic properties of BiTeX(0001) surfaces. For X=Cl, Br we observe macroscopic single-terminated surfaces. We discuss chemical characteristics among the three materials in terms of bonding character, surface electronic structure, and surface morphology.This work was financially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through FOR1162 and partly by the Ministry of Education and Science of Russian Federation
(Grant No. 2.8575.2013), the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grants No. 15-02-01797 and No. 15-02-02717), and Saint Petersburg State University (Project No.
11.50.202.2015).Peer Reviewe
Direct observation of many-body charge density oscillations in a two-dimensional electron gas
Quantum interference is a striking manifestation of one of the basic concepts of quantum mechanics: the particle-wave duality. A spectacular visualization of this effect is the standing wave pattern produced by elastic scattering of surface electrons around defects, which corresponds to a modulation of the electronic local density of states and can be imaged using a scanning tunnelling microscope. To date, quantum-interference measurements were mainly interpreted in terms of interfering electrons or holes of the underlying band-structure description. Here, by imaging energy-dependent standing-wave patterns at noble metal surfaces, we reveal, in addition to the conventional surface-state band, the existence of an ‘anomalous’ energy band with a well-defined dispersion. Its origin is explained by the presence of a satellite in the structure of the many-body spectral function, which is related to the acoustic surface plasmon. Visualizing the corresponding charge oscillations provides thus direct access to many-body interactions at the atomic scale
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