arXiv subjects

N. P. Guisinger

Publications and source records attributed to N. P. Guisinger.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2014

Spectroscopic evidence for spin-polarized edge states in graphitic Si nanowires

The step edges on the Si(553)-Au surface undergo a 1 x 3 reconstruction at low temperature which has recently been interpreted theoretically as the x3 ordering of spin-polarized silicon atoms at the edges of the graphitic Si nanowires on this vicinal surface. This predicted magnetic ground state has a clear spectroscopic signature - a silicon step-edge state at 0.5 eV above the Fermi level - that arises from strong exchange splitting and hence would not occur without spin polarization. Here we report spatially resolved scanning tunneling spectroscopy data for these nanowires. At low temperature we find an unoccupied state at 0.5 eV above every third step edge silicon atom, in excellent agreement with the spin-polarized ground state predicted theoretically. This spin-polarized state survives up to room temperature where the position of the spins rapidly fluctuates among all Si step-edge sites.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

Imaging the interface of epitaxial graphene with silicon carbide via scanning tunneling microscopy

Graphene grown epitaxially on SiC has been proposed as a material for carbon-based electronics. Understanding the interface between graphene and the SiC substrate will be important for future applications. We report the ability to image the interface structure beneath single-layer graphene using scanning tunneling microscopy. Such imaging is possible because the graphene appears transparent at energies of 1 eV above or below the Fermi energy. Our analysis of calculations based on density functional theory shows how this transparency arises from the electronic structure of a graphene layer on a SiC substrate.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2006

Saturated Hydrocarbons on Silicon: Quantifying Desorption with Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Quantum Theory

Electron stimulated desorption of cyclopentene from the Si(100)-2x1 surface is studied experimentally with cryogenic UHV STM and theoretically with transport, electronic structure, and dynamical calculations. Unexpectedly for a saturated hydrocarbon on silicon, desorption is observed at bias magnitudes as low as 2.5 V, albeit the desorption yields are a factor of 500 to 1000 lower than previously reported for unsaturated molecules on silicon. The low threshold voltage for desorption can be attributed to hybridization of the molecule with the silicon surface, which results in low-lying ionic resonances within 2-3 eV of the Fermi level. These resonances are long-lived, spatially localized and displaced in equilibrium with respect to the neutral state, resulting, upon excitation, in symmetric (positive ion) or asymmetric (negative ion) motion of the silicon dimer atoms. This study highlights the importance of nuclear dynamics in silicon-based molecular electronics and suggests new guidelines for the control of such dynamics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗