Atomically resolved real-space imaging of hot electron dynamics

Duncan Lock, Kristina Rusimova, Tianlau Pan, Richard E Palmer, Peter Sloan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

40 Citations (SciVal)
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Abstract

The dynamics of hot electrons are central to understanding the properties of many electronic devices. But their ultra-short lifetime, typically 100 fs or less, and hence their corresponding transport length-scale of a few nanometers severely constrains real space investigations. Here we report variable temperature and voltage measurements of the nonlocal manipulation of adsorbed molecules on the Si(111)-7x7 surface in the scanning tunnelling microscope. The range of the nonlocal effect increases with temperature and, at constant temperature, is invariant over a wide range of electron energies. The measurements probe, in real space, the underlying hot electron dynamics on the 10 nm scale and are well described by a two-dimensional diffusive model with a single decay channel, consistent with 2PPE measurements of the real time dynamics.
Original languageEnglish
Article number8365
Pages (from-to)1-7
Number of pages7
JournalNature Communications
Volume6
Issue number8365
Early online date21 Sept 2015
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21 Sept 2015

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