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Published Online September 9, 2004
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1102370

Research Articles

Submitted on July 6, 2004
Accepted on August 25, 2004

Controlling the Dynamics of a Single Atom in Lateral Atom Manipulation

Joseph A. Stroscio 1* and Robert J. Celotta 1

1 Electron Physics Group, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Joseph A. Stroscio , E-mail: joseph.stroscio{at}nist.gov

We studied the dynamics of a single Co atom during lateral manipulation on a Cu(111) surface in a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope. The Co binding site locations are revealed in a detailed image that results from lateral Co atom motion within the trapping potential of the scanning tip. Random telegraph noise, corresponding to the Co atom switching between hexagonally closed-packed (hcp) and face-centered cubic (fcc) sites, is seen when the tip was used to try to position the Co atom over the higher energy hcp site. Varying the probe tip height modified the normal Cu(111) potential landscape and allowed the residence time of the Co atom in these sites to be varied. At low tunneling voltages (less than ~5 millielectron volts) the transfer rate between sites was independent of tunneling voltage, current, and temperature. At higher voltages, the transfer rate exhibited a strong dependence on tunneling voltage, indicative of vibrational heating by inelastic electron scattering.


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)