low index single crystal surfaces;
scanning tunneling microscopy;
silver;
surface diffusion;
D O I:
10.1016/S0039-6028(97)00843-1
中图分类号:
O64 [物理化学(理论化学)、化学物理学];
学科分类号:
070304 ;
081704 ;
摘要:
The fluctuations of the position of monatomic steps on Ag(ll1) are investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). We analyze the influence of tip-sample interaction by varying the gap impedance over more than two orders of magnitude. For tunneling tips providing a weak tip-sample interaction. wt show that the step position autocorrelation Function remains essentially unaltered. In this unperturbed case, the kinetics of step fluctuations are found to be dominated by one-dimensional mass transport. For larger variations of the rip-sample distance or for less favorable tip configurations. we observe a tip-induced increase of the step fluctuations. Our measurements suggest that this effect is caused rather by short-range Forces than bq the electric field in the tunneling gap. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.