Atomically Resolved Local Variation of the Barrier Height of the Flip-Flop Motion of Single Buckled Dimers of Si(100)

K. Hata, Y. Sainoo, and H. Shigekawa
Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 3084 – Published 2 April 2001
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Abstract

The dynamics of the flip-flop motion of single buckled dimers of Si(100) was elucidated by locating the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope over a single flip-flopping dimer and measuring the tunneling current (time trace). Based on a statistical analysis of the time trace, we succeeded in estimating the activation energy and the energy splitting between the two stable configurations of buckling. Strong dependence of the dynamics of the flip-flop motion on the local environment was found: Activation energy differs significantly (directly measured 32 meV, estimated 110meV) for dimers in different domains.

  • Received 18 April 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.3084

©2001 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

K. Hata*, Y. Sainoo, and H. Shigekawa

  • Institute of Applied Physics and CREST, Japan Science and Technology Corporation (JST), University of Tsukuba, Tennodai 1-1-1, Tsukuba 305-8573, Japan

  • *On leave to Harvard University.
  • Electronic address: hidemi@ims.tsukuba.ac.jp World Wide Web: http://dora.ims.tsukuba.ac.jp

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Vol. 86, Iss. 14 — 2 April 2001

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