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Snell's law for surface electrons: Refraction of an electron gas imaged in real space

Jascha Repp·Gerhard Meyer·Karl-Heinz Rieder
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Abstract

On NaCl(100)/Cu(111) an interface state band is observed that descends from the surface-state band of the clean copper surface. This band exhibits a Moire-pattern-induced one-dimensional band gap, which is accompanied by strong standing-wave patterns, as revealed in low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy images. At NaCl island step edges, one can directly see the refraction of these standing waves, which obey Snell's refraction law.

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Jascha Repp, Gerhard Meyer, Karl-Heinz Rieder. 2003-11-18. Snell's law for surface electrons: Refraction of an electron gas imaged in real space. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.92.036803

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