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Updated: Aug 8, 2026
All-electronic Nanosecond-resolved Scanning Tunneling Microscopy: Facilitating the Investigation of Single Dopant Charge Dynamics
Published on: January 19, 2018
Scanning tunneling microscope excited cathodoluminescence from ZnS nanowires
Dorothy Duo Duo Ma1, Shuit-Tong Lee, Peter Mueller
1Center of Super-Diamond and Advanced Films (COSDAF) and Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, (China).
Abstract:
The electronic excitation spectrum of ZnS nanowires (NWs) is characterized by cathodoluminescence (CL) excited using the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope as a highly localized and bright source of low-energy (150-350 eV) electrons with impinging power densities in the range of up to 60 kW/cm(2) or more. The CL spectra reveal significant differences when compared with the photoluminescence spectra of ZnS NWs. The differences can be associated with the properties of the surface region of the NWs, which are preferentially emphasized in the CL spectra owing to the small probing depth of low-energy electrons.
