Atomic structure, energetics, and dynamics of topological solitons in Indium chains on Si(111) surfaces
arXiv:1009.1088 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.026801
Abstract
Based on scanning tunneling microscopy and first-principles theoretical studies, we characterize the precise atomic structure of a topological soliton in In chains grown on Si(111) surfaces. Variable-temperature measurements of the soliton population allow us to determine the soliton formation energy to be ~60 meV, smaller than one half of the band gap of ~200 meV. Once created, these solitons have very low mobility, even though the activation energy is only about 20 meV; the sluggish nature is attributed to the exceptionally low attempt frequency for soliton migration. We further demonstrate local electric field-enhanced soliton dynamics.
arXiv comment5 pages, 3 figures
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Cited by in corpus (9)
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