title: Interplay of weak interactions in the atom-by-atom condensation of xenon within quantum boxes.
abstract: Condensation processes are of key importance in nature and play a fundamental role in chemistry and physics. Owing to size effects at the nanoscale, it is conceptually desired to experimentally probe the dependence of condensate structure on the number of constituents one by one. Here we present an approach to study a condensation process atom-by-atom with the scanning tunnelling microscope, which provides a direct real-space access with atomic precision to the aggregates formed in atomically defined 'quantum boxes'. Our analysis reveals the subtle interplay of competing directional and nondirectional interactions in the emergence of structure and provides unprecedented input for the structural comparison with quantum mechanical models. This approach focuses on-but is not limited to-the model case of xenon condensation and goes significantly beyond the well-established statistical size analysis of clusters in atomic or molecular beams by mass spectrometry.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sylwia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nowakowska
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Aneliia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wäckerlin
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, 4056 Basel, Switzerland [2] PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan.
authors.forename: Shigeki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kawai
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Toni
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ivas
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Micro- and Nanotechnology, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nowakowski
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, 4056 Basel, Switzerland [2] Departamento de Física Aplicada, Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas 13083-859, Brazil.
authors.forename: Shadi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fatayer
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Micro- and Nanotechnology, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wäckerlin
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nijs
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ernst
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, IFM, Linköping University, Linköping 581 83, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Björk
authors.affiliation: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Meike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stöhr
authors.affiliation: Anorganisch-Chemisches Institut, Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 270, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Lutz H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Gade
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Micro- and Nanotechnology, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Jung