Tunable tunnel barriers in a semiconductor via ionization of individual atoms

Sara M. Mueller; Dongjoon Kim; Stephen R. McMillan; Steven J. Tjung; Jacob J. Repicky; Stephen Gant; Evan Lang; Fedor Bergmann; Kevin Werner; Enam Chowdhury; Aravind Asthagiri; Michael E. Flatte; Jay A. Gupta

doi:10.1088/1361-648X/abf9bd

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Tunable tunnel barriers in a semiconductor via ionization of individual atoms

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Tunable tunnel barriers in a semiconductor via ionization of individual atoms

Sara M. Mueller, Dongjoon Kim, Stephen R. McMillan, Steven J. Tjung, Jacob J. Repicky, Stephen Gant, Evan Lang, Fedor Bergmann, Kevin Werner, Enam Chowdhury, …

Journal of physics. Condensed matter, Vol.33(27), p.275002

05/28/2021

DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/abf9bd

PMID: 33878736

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https://arxiv.org/pdf/1909.04156View

Open Access

Abstract

We report scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) studies of individual adatoms deposited on an InSb(110) surface. The adatoms can be reproducibly dropped off from the STM tip by voltage pulses, and impact tunneling into the surface by up to similar to 100x. The spatial extent and magnitude of the tunneling effect are widely tunable by imaging conditions such as bias voltage, set current and photoillumination. We attribute the effect to occupation of a (+/0) charge transition level, and switching of the associated adatom-induced band bending. The effect in STM topographic images is well reproduced by transport modeling of filling and emptying rates as a function of the tip position. STM atomic contrast and tunneling spectra are in good agreement with density functional theory calculations for In adatoms. The adatom ionization effect can extend to distances greater than 50 nm away, which we attribute to the low concentration and low binding energy of the residual donors in the undoped InSb crystal. These studies demonstrate how individual atoms can be used to sensitively control current flow in nanoscale devices.

Physical Sciences

Physics

Physics, Condensed Matter

Science & Technology

Details

Title: Subtitle: Tunable tunnel barriers in a semiconductor via ionization of individual atoms
Creators: Sara M. Mueller - The Ohio State University
Dongjoon Kim - The Ohio State University
Stephen R. McMillan - University of Iowa
Steven J. Tjung - The Ohio State University
Jacob J. Repicky - The Ohio State University
Stephen Gant - The Ohio State University
Evan Lang - The Ohio State University
Fedor Bergmann - Bergmann Messgeraete Entwicklung KG, Kocheler Str 101, D-82418 Murnau, Germany
Kevin Werner - The Ohio State University
Enam Chowdhury - The Ohio State University
Aravind Asthagiri - The Ohio State University
Michael E. Flatte - Univ Iowa, Dept Phys & Astron, Iowa City, IA 52242 USA
Jay A. Gupta - The Ohio State University
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of physics. Condensed matter, Vol.33(27), p.275002
DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/abf9bd
PMID: 33878736
NLM abbreviation: J Phys Condens Matter
ISSN: 0953-8984
eISSN: 1361-648X
Publisher: Iop Publishing Ltd
Number of pages: 9
Grant note: FA9550-16-1-0069; FA9550-12-1-0454 / AFOSR; United States Department of Defense; Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) FA9451-14-1-0351 / AFRL; United States Department of Defense; US Air Force Research Laboratory 1809837 / NSF; National Science Foundation (NSF) DE-SC0016379 / Department of Energy; United States Department of Energy (DOE)
Language: English
Date published: 05/28/2021
Academic Unit: Electrical and Computer Engineering; Physics and Astronomy
Record Identifier: 9984429028402771

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