OBSERVING THE MOTION OF A SINGLE ADSORBED ATOM WITH PICOSECOND AND SUBNANOMETER RESOLUTION

Authors
HEINZELMANN H WATANABE F MCCLELLAND GM
Citation
H. Heinzelmann et al., OBSERVING THE MOTION OF A SINGLE ADSORBED ATOM WITH PICOSECOND AND SUBNANOMETER RESOLUTION, Physical review letters, 70(23), 1993, pp. 3611-3614
Citations number
31
Categorie Soggetti
Physics
Journal title
Physical review letters → ACNP
ISSN journal
00319007
Volume
70
Issue
23
Year of publication
1993
Pages
3611 - 3614
Database
ISI
SICI code
0031-9007(1993)70:23<3611:OTMOAS>2.0.ZU;2-Y
Abstract
A new method is described for recording the motion of a single adsorbe d atom or molecule in real time, with an ultimate achievable resolutio n of 10(-14) s. The time dependence of electron field emission through an atom adsorbed on a metal tip is measured by focusing the electrons into a beam, which is swept across a detector screen. Simultaneous te mporal and one-dimensional spatial resolution of the dynamics is possi ble. The motion of single Cs atoms between sites on atomically charact erized W(111) tips is observed at 2 ps resolution.