Issue 5, 2010

Lateral engineering of surface states – towards surface-state nanoelectronics

Abstract

Patterned metal surfaces can host electron quantum waves that display interference phenomena over distances of a few nanometres, thus providing excellent information carriers for future atomic-scale devices. Here we demonstrate that collimation and waveguiding of surface electrons can be realized in silver-induced strain dislocation networks on Cu(111) surfaces, as a conceptual proof-of-principle of surface-state nanoelectronics (SSNE). The Ag/Cu(111) system exhibits featured surface bands with gaps at the Fermi energy, which are basic requirements for a potential SSNE material. We establish a solid analogy between the behavior of surface-state electrons and surface plasmons in patterned metal surfaces, thus facilitating the transfer of existing knowledge on plasmonic structures to the new scenario presented by engineered electronic surface-state nanostructures, with the advantage of a 1000-fold reduction in wavelength and geometrical parameters.

Graphical abstract: Lateral engineering of surface states – towards surface-state nanoelectronics

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
05 Dec 2009
Accepted
16 Feb 2010
First published
09 Apr 2010

Nanoscale, 2010,2, 717-721

Lateral engineering of surface states – towards surface-state nanoelectronics

F. J. García de Abajo, J. Cordón, M. Corso, F. Schiller and J. E. Ortega, Nanoscale, 2010, 2, 717 DOI: 10.1039/B9NR00386J

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