Kondo Scattering Observed at a Single Magnetic Impurity

Jiutao Li; Wolf-Dieter Schneider; Richard Berndt; Bernard Delley

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.80.2893

Kondo Scattering Observed at a Single Magnetic Impurity

Jiutao Li, Wolf-Dieter Schneider, Richard Berndt, and Bernard Delley

Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 2893 – Published 30 March 1998

Abstract

Electron scattering of isolated Ce adatoms on Ag(111) surfaces was studied with a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope. Tunneling spectra obtained on and near Ce reveal a characteristic dip around the Fermi energy which is absent for nonmagnetic Ag adatoms. This feature is detected over a few atomic diameters around Ce atoms at the surface. The transition matrix element from the localized $f$ electron to the tunnel-current carrying continuum states bears a strong resemblance to discrete autoionized states. We interpret the dip spectrum as a Fano interference for the limit where the $f$ orbital has a very small matrix element.

Received 6 October 1997

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.80.2893

Authors & Affiliations

Jiutao Li^* and Wolf-Dieter Schneider^†

Institut de Physique Expérimentale, Université de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

Richard Berndt

2. Physikalisches Institut, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, D-52056 Aachen, Germany

Bernard Delley

Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland

^*Present address: Beckman Institute, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-Champaign, IL.
^†Presently on a sabbatical leave at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822.