Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 206801 (2006) [4 pages]Electron Transport via Local Polarons at Interface AtomsReceived 17 March 2006; published 13 November 2006 Electronic transport is profoundly modified in the presence of strong electron-vibration coupling. We show that in certain situations, the electron flow takes place only when vibrations are excited. By controlling the segregation of boron in semiconducting Si(111)-√3×√3R30° surfaces, we create a type of adatom with a dangling-bond state that is electronically decoupled from any other electronic state. However, probing this state with scanning tunnelling microscopy at 5 K yields high currents. These findings are rationalized by ab-initio calculations that show the formation of a local polaron in the transport process. © 2006 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.206801
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.206801
PACS:
73.43.Jn, 63.22.+m, 68.37.Ef, 73.63.−b
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