Apparent tunneling barrier height and local work function of atomic arrays

Neda Noei1, Alexander Weismann1, Richard Berndt1

  • 1Institut für Experimentelle und Angewandte Physik, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, 24098 Kiel, Germany.

Summary

Apparent tunneling barrier height measurements in scanning tunneling microscopy may not accurately reflect local work function variations. A kinetic-energy contribution, influenced by surface structure, causes these discrepancies, impacting surface analysis accuracy.

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