Berlin 2018 – scientific programme
Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help
O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik
O 92: Nanostructures at surfaces: Dots, particles, clusters I
O 92.3: Talk
Thursday, March 15, 2018, 11:15–11:30, MA 141
Towards atomic-scale switches based on self-assembled surface magic clusters — •Martin Franz1, Jan Große1, Tim Amrhein1, Chiara Panosetti2, Karsten Reuter2, and Mario Dähne1 — 1Institut für Festkörperphysik, Technische Universität Berlin, D-10623 Berlin, Germany — 2Department Chemie, Technische Universität München, D-85748 Garching, Germany
Atomic-scale switches represent the ultimate level of device miniaturization. Here, we present the first example of such a switch based on self-assembled magic clusters on surfaces.
Using scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory, we find that so-called centered rare earth silicide clusters forming self-assembled on the Si(111)7×7 surface [1,2] show a bistable switching between two mirror symmetric configurations. Thereby, a rather high energy barrier of 1.3 eV between the configurations suppresses a thermally induced flipping even at room temperature. In the presence of a close STM tip, however, the clusters start flipping between the two configurations indicating a tip-induced lowering of the barrier height, leading to the possibility to intentionally switch the clusters from one configuration to the other and back.
This work was supported by the DFG, FOR 1282, projects D and H.
[1] M. Franz, S. Appelfeller, M. Rychetsky, and M. Dähne, Surf. Sci 609, 215 (2013).
[2] M. Franz, J. Große, R. Kohlhaas, M. Dähne, and Surf. Sci. 637-638, 149 (2015).