Control of light emission from an STM and surface modifications

Renaud Péchou (1) , Roland Coratger (1) , François Ajustron (1) , J. Beauvillain (1)

1 CEMES - Centre d'élaboration de matériaux et d'études structurales

Light emission at the Au/Au junction of a scanning tunneling microscope has been detected in air, and the property of control of the emission yield has also been evidenced. The experimental results presented in this paper show this reversible property to be closely linked to minute surface modifications involving the real surface of the sample. © 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Mots clés: Light emission; Scanning tunneling microscopy; Surface treatment; Surface plasmons; Gold

Domaines: Physique [physics]

Renaud Péchou, Roland Coratger, François Ajustron, J. Beauvillain. Control of light emission from an STM and surface modifications. Surface Science : A Journal Devoted to the Physics and Chemistry of Interfaces, 1998, 418 (1), pp.1-7. ⟨10.1016/S0039-6028(98)00619-0⟩. ⟨hal-01830821⟩