Electron Quantization in Broken Atomic Wires

We demonstrate using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy the electron quantization within metallic Au atomic wires self-assembled on a Si(111) surface and segmented by adatom impurities. The local electronic states of wire segments with a length up to 10 nm are investigated as terminated by two neighboring Si adatoms. One dimensional (1D) quantum well states are well resolved by their spatial distributions and the inverse-length-square dependence in their energies. The quantization also results in the quantum oscillation of the conductance at the Fermi level. These results deny the dopant role of the adatoms assumed for a long time but indicate their strong scattering nature. The present approach provides a new and convenient platform to investigate 1D quantum phenomena with atomic precision.

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