Observation of interfering Bloch waves

B. G. Briner; Ph. Hofmann; M. Doering; H.-P. Rust; E. W. Plummer; A. M. Bradshaw

doi:10.1209/epl/i1997-00315-2

All issues

Volume 39 / No 1 (July I 1997)

Europhys. Lett., 39 1 (1997) 67-72

Abstract

Issue		Europhys. Lett. Volume 39, Number 1, July I 1997


Page(s)		67 - 72
Section		Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic and optical properties
DOI		https://doi.org/10.1209/epl/i1997-00315-2
Published online		01 December 2003

Europhys. Lett., 39 (1), pp. 67-72 (1997)

Observation of interfering Bloch waves

B. G. Briner¹, Ph. Hofmann², M. Doering¹, H.-P. Rust¹, E. W. Plummer² and A. M. Bradshaw¹

¹ Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Faradayweg 4-6, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
² Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA Oak Ridge National Laboratories - Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6057, USA

Received: 4 March 1997
Accepted: 26 May 1997

Abstract

We have observed anisotropic standing waves on the Be(10 $\bar{\hbox{1}}$ 0 surface using a low-temperature scanning tunnelling microscope (STM). Such charge density oscillations result from interference of electronic states near scattering centers. Since the charge density on Be(10 $\bar{\hbox{1}}$ 0 is mainly provided by a surface state located near the edge of the first Brillouin zone, the wave functions are significantly different from plane waves. It is shown how this difference is reflected in the STM images. By numerical post-processing we find that the observed wave patterns exhibit a multiperiodic structure with individual periods differing by inverse lattice vectors. This result constitutes a direct experimental illustration of the Bloch theorem for electrons in a periodic potential.

PACS: 73.20.At – Surface states, band structure, electron density of states / 72.10.Fk – Scattering by point defects, dislocations, surfaces, and other imperfections (including Kondo effect)

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