Suchergebnisse

Trabajo presentado al Symposium on Surface Science (3S), celebrado en St. Christoph am Arlberg (Austria) del 1 al 7 de marzo de 2020. ; Conventional spin-degenerated surface electrons have been effectively manipulated by using organic and inorganic self-assembled nano-arrays as resonators. Step superlattices naturally assembled in vicinal surfaces are a particularly interesting case since they represent simple one-dimensional (1D) models for fundamental studies, and can imprint strong anisotropies in surface electron transport in real devices. Here we present the first realization of periodic resonator arrays on the BiAg2 atom-thick surface alloy with unprecedented atomic precision, and demonstrate their potential ability for tuning helical Rashba states. We employ a Ag cylindrical crystal curved around the Ag(645) vicinal surface [c-Ag(645) sample] to be able of selecting local vicinal planes with kinked steps. After sublimation and post-annealing of a 0.3 ML Bi layer, we achieve a homogenous BiAg2 surface alloy, featuring sharp arrays of extraordinarily straight Bi-terminated, monoatomic steps, with variable (tunable) density across the curved surface. Scanning the ultraviolet light beam on such Bi/c-Ag(645) interface in angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) experiments allowed us to observe the characteristic signatures of strong and coherent step-lattice scattering in the spin-textured bands of the BiAg2 alloy, that is, step-umklapps, and a large, step-density-dependent Rashba band shift. First-principle DFT calculations reveal a complex terrace/step spin/orbital composition, which in turn explains the large spectral broadening and strong photon-energy dependence observed in ARPES. DFT also predicts the split-off of 1D electron-like step and terrace bands dispersing parallel to surface steps. ; This research was supported by the CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya, and funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Grants MAT2016-78293-C6 (2-R, 4-R and 6-R), MAT-2017-88374-P and Severo Ochoa No. SEV-2017-0706), the Basque Government (Grant IT-1255-19), the regional Government of Aragón (RASMIA project) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the program Interreg V-A España-Francia-Andorra (Contract No. EFA 194/16 TNSI). ; Peer reviewed

We investigate the scattering of electrons belonging to Shockley states of (111)-oriented noble metal surfaces using angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Both ARPES and STM indicate that monatomic steps on a noble metal surface may act either as strongly repulsive or highly transmissive barriers for surface electrons, depending on the coherence of the step lattice, and irrespectively of the average step spacing. By measuring curved crystal surfaces with terrace length ranging from 30 to 180 Å, we show that vicinal surfaces of Au and Ag with periodic step arrays exhibit a remarkable wave function coherence beyond 100 Å step spacings, well beyond the Fermi wavelength limit and independently of the projection of the bulk band gap on the vicinal plane. In contrast, the analysis of transmission resonances investigated by STM shows that a pair of isolated parallel steps defining a 58 Å wide terrace confines and decouples the surface state of the small terrace from that of the (111) surface. We conclude that the formation of laterally confined quantum well states in vicinal surfaces as opposed to propagating superlattice states depends on the loss of coherence driven by imperfection in the superlattice order. © 2013 American Physical Society. ; This work was supported in part by the Spanish MICINN (MAT2007-63083 and MAT2010-15659), the Basque Government (IT-257-07), and the Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (2009 SGR 695). The SRC is funded by the National Science Foundation (Award No. DMR-0084402). A.M. and J.L.-C. acknowledge funding from the Ramon y Cajal Fellowship program. ; Peer Reviewed

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. ; Quantum well states of Ag films grown on stepped Au(111) surfaces are shown to undergo lateral scattering, in analogy with surface states of vicinal Ag(111). Applying angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy we observe quantum well bands with zone-folding and gap openings driven by surface/interface step lattice scattering. Experiments performed on a curved Au(111) substrate allow us to determine a subtle terrace-size effect, i.e., a fine step-density-dependent upward shift of quantum well bands. This energy shift is explained as mainly due to the periodically stepped crystal potential offset at the interface side of the film. Finally, the surface state of the stepped Ag film is analyzed with both photoemission and scanning tunneling microscopy. We observe that the stepped film interface also affects the surface state energy, which exhibits a larger terrace-size effect compared to surface states of bulk vicinal Ag(111)crystals. ; This work was supported in part by the Spanish Ministry of Economy (MINECO) through grants MAT2013–46593-C6–2-P, MAT2013–46593-C6–4-P, MAT2013–46593-C6–5-P, and FIS2010–19609-C02–02, by the German Sonderforschungsbereich SFB 1083, and by the Basque Government through Projects IT-621–13 and IT-756–13. ICN2 acknowledges support from the Severo Orchoa Program (MINECO, Grant SEV-2013-0295). ; Peer Reviewed