Distance dependence of the interaction between single atoms: gold dimers on NiAl(110).
The importance of substrate-mediated adsorbate-adsorbate interactions on electronic states has been demonstrated for Au dimers on NiAl(110) with a scanning tunneling microscope and density functional calculations. An unoccupied resonance observed in single Au atoms splits into a doublet in Au dimers. The energy splitting depends inversely on the distance between the two adatoms, revealing the relative importance of direct and substrate-mediated interactions. Spatially resolved conductance measurements of Au dimers reveal the symmetric and antisymmetric characters of the doublet states.
Nilius
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Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-4575, USA.
Wallis
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TM
Persson
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Ho
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