Abstract
The surface electrostatic potential of Au(111) has been evaluated by using site-specific barrier-height measurements in a scanning tunneling microscope. From the spatial variation of the barrier height, sharp enlargement and reduction of the surface potential are obtained at the upper and lower step edges, respectively, which are characterized as the Smoluchowski effect. We also observe the potential with oscillatory decay away from the step, known as the Friedel potential oscillation. In addition, the periodic potential modulation induced by the surface reconstruction is evaluated quantitatively, which is confirmed by the energy shift of the bulk electronic states.
- Received 18 January 2014
- Revised 11 April 2014
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.89.155423
©2014 American Physical Society