STM-INDUCED HYDROGEN DESORPTION VIA A HOLE RESONANCE

We report STM-induced desorption of H from Si(100)-H(2 X 1) at negativ e sample bias. The desorption rate exhibits a power-law dependence on current and a maximum desorption rate at -7 V. The desorption is expla ined by vibrational heating of H due to inelastic scattering of tunnel ing holes with the Si-H 5 sigma hole resonance. The dependence of deso rption rate on current and bias is analyzed using a novel approach for calculating inelastic scattering, which includes the effect of the el ectric field between tip and sample. We show that the maximum desorpti on rate at -7 V is due to a maximum fraction of inelastically scattere d electrons at the onset of the field emission regime.