Abstract
Self-assembled atomic chains can be triggered at stepped Si(111) surfaces by adding sub-monolayer amounts of metals, such as gold, silver, platinum, alkali metals, alkaline earths, and rare earths. A common feature of all these structures is the honeycomb chain, a graphitic strip of Si atoms at the step edge that is lattice matched in the direction parallel to the edge but completely mismatched perpendicular to it. This honeycomb chain drives one-dimensional surface reconstructions even on the flat Si(111) surface, breaking its three-fold symmetry. Particularly interesting are metallic chain structures, such as those induced by gold. The Au atoms are locked rigidly to the Si substrate but the electrons near the Fermi level completely decouple from the substrate because they lie in the band gap of silicon. The electronic structure of one-dimensional electrons is predicted to be qualitatively different from that of higher dimensions, since electrons cannot avoid each other when moving along the same line. The single-electron picture has to be abandoned, making way for collective excitations, such as spinons and holons, where the spins and charges of electrons become separated. Although such excitations have yet to be confirmed definitively, the band structure seen in angle-resoled photoemission exhibits a variety of unusual features, such as a fractional electron count and a doublet of nearly half-filled bands. Chains of tunable spins can be created with rare earths. The dimensionality can be controlled by adjusting the step spacing with intra- and inter-chain coupling ratios from 10:1 to >70:1. Thus, metal-induced chain structures on stepped silicon provide a versatile class of low-dimensional materials for approaching the one-dimensional limit and exploring the exotic electronic states predicted for one dimension.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Lieb EH, Mattis DC (eds) (1966) Mathematical Physics in One Dimension: Exactly Soluble Models of Interacting Particles. Academic, New York
Giamarchi T (2004) Quantum Physics in One Dimension. Oxford University Press, New York
Gruner G (1994) Density Waves in Solids. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA
Hausler W, Kecke L, MacDonald AH (2002) Phys Rev B 65:085104
Schonhammer K (2003) in Strong Interactions in Low Dimensions. Baeriswyl D, Degiorgi L (eds) Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, Chap 1
Auslaender OM, Steinberg H, Yacoby A, Tserkovnyak Y, Halperin BI, Baldwin KW, Pfeiffer LN, West KW (2005) Science 308:88
Creffield CE, Hausler W, MacDonald AH (2001) Europhys Lett 53:221
Claessen R, Sing M, Schwingenschlogl U, Blaha P, Dressel M, Jacobsen CS (2002) Phys Rev Lett 88:096402
Sing M, Schwingenschlogl U, Claessen R, Blaha P, Carmelo JMP, Martelo LM, Sacramento PD, Dressel M, Jacobsen CS (2003) Phys Rev B 68:125111
Zacher MG, Arrigoni E, Hanke W, Schrieffer JR (1998) Phys Rev B 57:6370
Ohnishi H, Kondo Y, Takayanagi K (1998) Nature 395:780
Mugarza A, Mascaraque A, Perez-Dieste V, Repain V, Rousset S, de Abajo FJG, Ortega JE (2001) Phys Rev Lett 87:107601
Mugarza A, Ortega JE (2003) J Phys Condens Matter 15:S3281
Rousset S, Repain V, Baudot G, Garreau Y, Lecoeur J (2003) J Phys Condens Matter 15:S3363
Goldberg JL, Wang XS, Wei J, Bartelt NC, Williams ED (1991) J Vac Sci Technol A 9:1868
Lin JL, Petrovykh DY, Viernow J, Men FK, Seo DJ, Himpsel FJ (1998) J Appl Phys 84:255
Viernow J, Lin JL, Petrovykh DY, Leibsle FM, Men FK, Himpsel FJ (1998) Appl Phys Lett 72:948
Wei J, Wang XS, Bartelt NC, Williams ED, Tung RT (1991) J Chem Phys 94:8384
Williams ED, Phaneuf RJ, Wei J, Bartelt NC, Einstein TL (1993) Surf Sci 294:219
Crain JN, Kirakosian A, Altmann KN, Bromberger C, Erwin SC, McChesney JL, Lin JL, Himpsel FJ (2003) Phys Rev Lett 90:176805
Crain JN, McChesney JL, Zheng F, Gallagher MC, Snijders PC, Bissen M, Gundelach C, Erwin SC, Himpsel FJ (2004) Phys Rev B 69:125401
Chashechkina EI, Chaikin PM (1999) Synth Met 103:2176
Clarke DG, Strong SP, Chaikin PM, Chashechkina EI (1998) Science 279:2071
Danner G, Kang W, Chaikin PM (1994) Physica B 201:442
Altmann KN, Crain JN, Kirakosian A, Lin JL, Petrovykh DY, Himpsel FJ, Losio R (2001) Phys Rev B 64:035406
Erwin SC (2003) Phys Rev Lett 91:206101
McChesney JL, Crain JN, Perez-Dieste V, Zheng F, Gallagher MC, Bissen M, Gundelach C, Himpsel FJ (2004) Phys Rev B 70:195430
Riikonen S, Sanchez-Portal D (2005) Phys Rev B 71:235423
Jalochowski M, Strozak M, Zdyb R (1997) Vacuum 48:273
Nogami J, Park SI, Quate CF (1987) Phys Rev B 36:6221
Yeom HW, Takeda S, Rotenberg E, Matsuda I, Horikoshi K, Schaefer J, Lee CM, Kevan SD, Ohta T, Nagao T, Hasegawa S (1999) Phys Rev Lett 82:4898
Ahn JR, Byun JH, Koh H, Rotenberg E, Kevan SD, Yeom HW (2004) Phys Rev Lett 93:106401
Lopez-Lozano X, Krivosheeva A, Stekolnikov AA, Meza-Montes L, Noguez C, Furthmüller J, Bechstedt F (2005) to be published
Bromberger C, Crain JN, Altmann KN, Paggel JJ, Himpsel FJ, Fick D (2003) Phys Rev B 68:075320
Petrovykh DY, Altmann KN, Lin JL, Himpsel FJ, Leibsle FM (2002) Surf Sci 512:269
Himpsel FJ, Altmann KN, Bennewitz R, Crain JN, Kirakosian A, Lin JL, McChesney JL (2001) J Phys Condens Matter 13:11097
Bauer E (1991) Surf Sci 250:L379
Himpsel FJ, McChesney JL, Crain JN, Kirakosian A, Perez-Dieste V, Abbott NL, Luk YY, Nealey PF, Petrovykh DY (2004) J Phys Chem B 108:14484
Kirakosian A, McChesney JL, Bennewitz R, Crain JN, Lin JL, Himpsel FJ (2002) Surf Sci 498:L109
McChesney JL, Crain JN, Himpsel FJ, Bennewitz R (2005) submitted
Yang YN, Fu ES, Williams ED (1996) Surf Sci 356:101
Erwin SC, Weitering HH (1998) Phys Rev Lett 81:2296
Robinson IK, Bennett PA, Himpsel FJ (2002) Phys Rev Lett 88:096104
Sanchez-Portal D, Martin RM (2003) Surf Sci 532:655
Sanchez-Portal D, Riikonen S, Martin RM (2004) Phys Rev Lett 93:146803
Riikonen S, Sanchez-Portal D (2005) Nanotechnology 16:S218
Baski AA, Saoud KM (2001) J Clust Sci 12:527
Kevan SD (ed) (1992) Angle-resolved Photoemission. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Himpsel FJ (1983) Adv Phys 32:1
Kanagawa T, Hobara R, Matsuda I, Tanikawa T, Natori A, Hasegawa S (2003) Phys Rev Lett 91:036805
Okino H, Hobara R, Matsuda I, Kanagawa T, Hasegawa S, Okabayashi J, Toyoda S, Oshima M, Ono K (2004) Phys Rev B 70:113404
Tanikawa T, Matsuda I, Kanagawa T, Hasegawa S (2004) Phys Rev Lett 93:016801
Crain JN, Altmann KN, Bromberger C, Himpsel FJ (2002) Phys Rev B 66:205302
Blagoev KB, Bedell KS (1997) Phys Rev Lett 79:1106
Segovia P, Purdie D, Hengsberger M, Baer Y (1999) Nature 402:504
Losio R, Altmann KN, Kirakosian A, Lin JL, Petrovykh DY, Himpsel FJ (2001) Phys Rev Lett 86:4632
Ahn JR, Yeom HW, Yoon HS, Lyo IW (2003) Phys Rev Lett 91:196403
Yeom HW et al. (2005) Phys Rev B, in press
LaShell S, McDougall BA, Jensen E (1996) Phys Rev Lett 77:3419
Reinert F, Nicolay G, Schmidt S, Ehm D, Hufner S (2001) Phys Rev B 63:033407
Hausler W (2001) Phys Rev B 63:121310(R)
Yoon HS, Park SJ, Lee JE, Whang CN, Lyo IW (2004) Phys Rev Lett 92:096801
Kirakosian A, Crain JN, Lin JL, McChesney JL, Petrovykh DY, Himpsel FJ, Bennewitz R (2003) Surf Sci 532:928
Kirakosian A, Bennewitz R, Himpsel FJ, Bruch LW (2003) Phys Rev B 67:205412
Bennewitz R, Crain JN, Kirakosian A, Lin JL, McChesney JL, Petrovykh DY, Himpsel FJ (2002) Nanotechnology 13:499
Crain JN, Pierce DT (2005) Science 307:703
Flores F, Ortega J, Perez R (1999) Surf Rev Lett 6:411
Ramachandran V, Feenstra RM (1999) Phys Rev Lett 82:1000
Forbeaux I, Themlin JM, Langlais V, Yu LM, Belkhir H, Debever JM (1998) Surf Rev Lett 5:193
Themlin JM, Forbeaux I, Langlais V, Belkhir H, Debever JM (1997) Europhys Lett 39:61
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
PACS
73.20.At; 71.10.Pm; 79.60.Jv; 81.07.Vb; 73.21.Hb
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Crain, J., Himpsel, F. Low-dimensional electronic states at silicon surfaces. Appl. Phys. A 82, 431–438 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-005-3365-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-005-3365-3