scholarly journals Scanning tunneling spectroscopic monitoring of surface states role on water passivation of InGaAs uncapped quantum dots

RSC Advances ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (53) ◽  
pp. 33137-33142
Author(s):  
M. J. Milla ◽  
I. Hernández-Rodríguez ◽  
J. Méndez ◽  
Jorge M. García ◽  
J. M. Ulloa ◽  
...  

A detailed local analysis of the impact of water coverage on the density of surface states in In0.5Ga0.5As surface nanostructures is reported by spectroscopy monitoring the surface conductivity at the nanometer-scale.

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (11) ◽  
pp. eaau4886 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Jiao ◽  
Sahana Rößler ◽  
Deepa Kasinathan ◽  
Priscila F. S. Rosa ◽  
Chunyu Guo ◽  
...  

The impact of nonmagnetic and magnetic impurities on topological insulators is a central focus concerning their fundamental physics and possible spintronics and quantum computing applications. Combining scanning tunneling spectroscopy with transport measurements, we investigate, both locally and globally, the effect of nonmagnetic and magnetic substituents in SmB6, a predicted topological Kondo insulator. Around the so-introduced substitutents and in accord with theoretical predictions, the surface states are locally suppressed with different length scales depending on the substituent’s magnetic properties. For sufficiently high substituent concentrations, these states are globally destroyed. Similarly, using a magnetic tip in tunneling spectroscopy also resulted in largely suppressed surface states. Hence, a destruction of the surface states is always observed close to atoms with substantial magnetic moment. This points to the topological nature of the surface states in SmB6 and illustrates how magnetic impurities destroy the surface states from microscopic to macroscopic length scales.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raja S. R. Gajjela ◽  
Arthur L. Hendriks ◽  
James O. Douglas ◽  
Elisa M. Sala ◽  
Petr Steindl ◽  
...  

AbstractWe investigated metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy grown (InGa)(AsSb)/GaAs/GaP Stranski–Krastanov quantum dots (QDs) with potential applications in QD-Flash memories by cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy (X-STM) and atom probe tomography (APT). The combination of X-STM and APT is a very powerful approach to study semiconductor heterostructures with atomic resolution, which provides detailed structural and compositional information on the system. The rather small QDs are found to be of truncated pyramid shape with a very small top facet and occur in our sample with a very high density of ∼4 × 1011 cm−2. APT experiments revealed that the QDs are GaAs rich with smaller amounts of In and Sb. Finite element (FE) simulations are performed using structural data from X-STM to calculate the lattice constant and the outward relaxation of the cleaved surface. The composition of the QDs is estimated by combining the results from X-STM and the FE simulations, yielding ∼InxGa1 − xAs1 − ySby, where x = 0.25–0.30 and y = 0.10–0.15. Noticeably, the reported composition is in good agreement with the experimental results obtained by APT, previous optical, electrical, and theoretical analysis carried out on this material system. This confirms that the InGaSb and GaAs layers involved in the QD formation have strongly intermixed. A detailed analysis of the QD capping layer shows the segregation of Sb and In from the QD layer, where both APT and X-STM show that the Sb mainly resides outside the QDs proving that Sb has mainly acted as a surfactant during the dot formation. Our structural and compositional analysis provides a valuable insight into this novel QD system and a path for further growth optimization to improve the storage time of the QD-Flash memory devices.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
José Luis Hernando ◽  
Yuriko Baba ◽  
Elena Díaz ◽  
Francisco Domínguez-Adame

AbstractWe theoretically address the impact of a random distribution of non-magnetic impurities on the electron states formed at the surface of a topological insulator. The interaction of electrons with the impurities is accounted for by a separable pseudo-potential method that allows us to obtain closed expressions for the density of states. Spectral properties of surface states are assessed by means of the Green’s function averaged over disorder realisations. For comparison purposes, the configurationally averaged Green’s function is calculated by means of two different self-consistent methods, namely the self-consistent Born approximation (SCBA) and the coherent potential approximation (CPA). The latter is often regarded as the best single-site theory for the study of the spectral properties of disordered systems. However, although a large number of works employ the SCBA for the analysis of many-impurity scattering on the surface of a topological insulator, CPA studies of the same problem are scarce in the literature. In this work, we find that the SCBA overestimates the impact of the random distribution of impurities on the spectral properties of surface states compared to the CPA predictions. The difference is more pronounced when increasing the magnitude of the disorder.


Author(s):  
Natalia A. Lashkova ◽  
Nikita V. Permiakov ◽  
Alexander I. Maximov ◽  
Yulia M. Spivak ◽  
Vyacheslav A. Moshnikov

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (a1) ◽  
pp. C81-C81
Author(s):  
H. R. Sharma ◽  
J. A. Smerdon ◽  
K. Nozawa ◽  
K. M. Young ◽  
T. P. Yadav ◽  
...  

We have used quasicrystals as templates for the exploration of new epitaxial phenomena. Several interesting results have been observed in the growth on surfaces of the common Al-based quasicrystals [1]. These include pseudomorphic monolayers, quasiperiodically modulated multilayer structures, and fivefold-twinned islands with magic heights influenced by quantum size effects [1]. Here we present our recent works on the growth of various elements and molecules on a new substrate, icosahedral (i) Ag-In-Yb quasicrystal, which have resulted in various epitaxial phenomena not observed previously. The growth of Pb on the five-fold surface of i-Ag-In-Yb yields a film which possesses quasicrystalline ordering in three-dimension [2]. Using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and DFT calculations of adsorption energies, we find that lead atoms occupy the positions of atoms in the rhombic triacontahedral (RTH) cluster, the building block of the substrate, and thus grow in layers with different heights and adsorption energies. The adlayer–adlayer interaction is crucial for stabilizing the epitaxial quasicrystalline structure. We will also present the first example of quasicrystalline molecular layers. Pentacene adsorbs at tenfold-symmetric sites of Yb atoms around surface-bisected RTH clusters, yielding quasicrystalline order [3]. Similarly, C-60 growth on the five-fold surface of i-Al-Cu-Fe at elevated temperature produces quasicrystalline layer, where the growth is mediated by Fe atoms on the substrate surface [3]. The finding of quasicrystalline thin films of single elements and molecules opens an avenue for further investigation of the impact of the aperiodic atomic order over periodic order on the physical and chemical properties of materials.


2009 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 014315 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. D. Dasika ◽  
R. S. Goldman ◽  
J. D. Song ◽  
W. J. Choi ◽  
N. K. Cho ◽  
...  

Scanning ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Xu Chen ◽  
Tengfei Guo ◽  
Yubin Hou ◽  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Wenjie Meng ◽  
...  

A new scan-head structure for the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is proposed, featuring high scan precision and rigidity. The core structure consists of a piezoelectric tube scanner of quadrant type (for XY scans) coaxially housed in a piezoelectric tube with single inner and outer electrodes (for Z scan). They are fixed at one end (called common end). A hollow tantalum shaft is coaxially housed in the XY-scan tube and they are mutually fixed at both ends. When the XY scanner scans, its free end will bring the shaft to scan and the tip which is coaxially inserted in the shaft at the common end will scan a smaller area if the tip protrudes short enough from the common end. The decoupled XY and Z scans are desired for less image distortion and the mechanically reduced scan range has the superiority of reducing the impact of the background electronic noise on the scanner and enhancing the tip positioning precision. High quality atomic resolution images are also shown.


1992 ◽  
Vol 295 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Molinàs-Mata ◽  
J. Zegenhagen ◽  
M. Böhringer ◽  
N. Takeuchi ◽  
A. Selloni

AbstractWe report on new experimental studies of the Ge(111)-c(2×8) reconstruction performed with low-energy electron diffraction. (LEED) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Weak quarter-order reflections are present in the c(2 × 8) LEED pattern in agreement with previous observations and results of ab initio calculations. In order to gain insight into the predicted splitting of dangling bond states, we compare constant current topographs (CCT's) performed at high-tunneling currents (40.nA) with first-principles calculations of the local density of states (LDOS) 1Å above the surface adatoms and obtain good qualitative agreement. We finally discuss to what extent the STM CCT's at high tunneling currents (small sample-tip distances (STD)) are sensitive to surface states outside the Г point.


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