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Nano Res

1

Chemically modified STM tips for atomic-resolution

imaging on ultrathin NaCl films

Zhe Li, Koen Schouteden, Violeta Iancu, Ewald Janssens, Peter Lievens, Chris Van Haesendonck ( ),

Jorge I. Cerdá ( )

Nano Res., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI 10.1007/s12274-015-0733-y

http://www.thenanoresearch.com on January 28, 2015

© Tsinghua University Press 2015

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Nano Research

DOI 10.1007/s12274-015-0733-y

0 Nano Res.



Zhe Li, Koen Schouteden, Violeta Iancu, Ewald

Janssens, Peter Lievens, Chris Van Haesendonck*

Solid-State Physics and Magnetism Section, KU

Leuven, BE-3001 Leuven, Belgium

Jorge I. Cerdá †

Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales, ICMM-CSIC,

Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain

The chemically modified STM-tip is obtained by picking up a Cl ion

from the NaCl surface. With respect to the bare metal tip, the

Cl-functionalized tip yields an enhanced resolution accompanied by a

contrast reversal in the STM topography image.

Peter Lievens, http://fys.kuleuven.be/vsm/class/

Chris Van Haesondonck, http://fys.kuleuven.be/vsm/spm/

Jorge I. Cerdá, http://www.icmm.csic.es/jcerda/

http://fys.kuleuven.be/vsm/class/

http://fys.kuleuven.be/vsm/spm/

http://www.icmm.csic.es/jcerda/

1 Nano Res.



Zhe Li, Koen Schouteden, Violeta Iancu, Ewald Janssens, Peter Lievens, Chris Van Haesendonck ( )

Jorge I. Cerdá ( )

Received: day month year

Revised: day month year

Accepted: day month year

(automatically inserted by

the publisher)

© Tsinghua University Press

and Springer-Verlag Berlin

Heidelberg 2014

KEYWORDS

Scanning tunneling

microscopy, ultrathin

insulating films,

functionalized STM-tip,

STM simulation

ABSTRACT

Cl-functionalized tips for scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) are obtained by

in situ modifying a tungsten STM-tip on islands of ultrathin NaCl(100) films on

Au(111) surfaces. The functionalized tips achieve a neat atomic resolution

imaging of the NaCl(100) islands. With respect to bare metal tips, the

chemically modified tips yield a drastically enhanced spatial resolution as well

as a contrast reversal in the STM topography images, implying that Na atoms

instead of Cl atoms are imaged as protrusions. STM simulations based on a

Green’s function formalism explain the experimentally observed contrast

reversal in the STM topography images as due to the highly localized character

of the Cl-pz states at the tip apex. An additional remarkable characteristic of the

modified tips is that in dI/dV maps a Na atom appears as a ring with a diameter

that depends crucially on the tip-sample distance.

The chemical termination of the tip apex in

scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) experiments

determines the interaction between the wave

functions of the tip and those of the sample and

hence the resolution that can be achieved in STM

images. For example, it has been demonstrated that

a molecule-terminated STM tip yields

high-resolution molecular-orbital imaging due to the p-orbital character of the tip apex, far superior

to what is achieved with a bare metal tip [1, 2].

Atomic resolution imaging is of utmost importance

for the manipulation and investigation of surface

Nano Research

DOI (automatically inserted by the publisher)

Address correspondence to Chris Van Haesendonck, [email protected]; Jorge I. Cerdá, [email protected]

Research Article

| www.editorialmanager.com/nare/default.asp

2 Nano Res.

point defects and adatoms, as well as for the

determination of the atomic structures of molecules

and nanoparticles [3-6].

Ultrathin insulating films grown on conductive

substrates effectively reduce the electronic coupling

between deposited nanoparticles and their metallic

support and are therefore ideally suited for local

probe based investigations. This way, the intrinsic

electronic properties of atoms [7], molecules [8, 9],

and clusters [10], as well as charge [11, 12] and spin

[13-15] manipulations of single atoms have been

investigated on different ultrathin insulating films,

including magnesium oxide, sodium chloride, and

copper nitride. Among these insulating materials,

NaCl has the advantage that it can be grown as

atomically flat layers on various metal surfaces

[16-19] and that the thickness of the layers can be

tuned [20]. Previous STM experiments have

reported atomic resolution on ultrathin NaCl films

in STM topography images [16, 19, 21]. Via density

functional theory (DFT) based calculations in the

Tersoff-Hamann approximation it has been found

that the protrusions observed in the topography

images using a bare metal tip are Cl atoms, while

the Na atoms cannot be resolved [16, 21]. Recently,

we showed that simultaneous visualization of both

atomic species of (bilayer) NaCl on Au(111) can be

achieved in the local hcp regions of the Au(111) surface reconstruction in the dI/dV maps using a

Cl-functionalized tip [22]. We also illustrated that

such tips can be used to probe the surface of

(hemi)spherical nanoparticles [i.e., Co clusters

deposited on NaCl(100)/Au(111)] with atomic

resolution, which could not be achieved with a bare

metal STM tip [23]. In Refs. [22] and [23],

functionalization of the STM tip was only

occasionally obtained by uncontrolled picking up

of a Cl ion during repeated scanning of the NaCl

surface in close proximity, thereby hampering more

challenging systematic investigations.

Various experiments with controlled

functionalization of the STM tips have been

reported before [1, 2, 24]. To obtain such tips, it was

required to introduce “impurity” molecules, such

as CO, O2, and H2, on the sample, which can be

picked up by the STM tip to achieve

functionalization and enhanced resolution. When

investigating the properties of nanoparticles,

especially metal nanoparticles, the adsorption of

CO, O2 or H2 molecules on the sample may result

in unwanted reactions with the nanoparticles and

modify their properties. Therefore, it would be

advantageous if the STM tip can be conveniently

functionalized with a species that is available on

the clean substrate surface, without the need to

introduce extra impurity molecules.

Here, we demonstrate that chemically modified

STM tips can be controllably obtained on ultrathin

NaCl(100) films on Au(111) by bringing the tip into

contact with the NaCl surface via current-distance

spectroscopy. Using such Cl-functionalized tips,

atomic resolution of mono-, bi-, and trilayer NaCl

islands is routinely achieved in STM topography

images as well as in constant-current dI/dV maps.

We find that the resolution and the appearance of

the atoms in such dI/dV maps depend crucially on

the tip-sample distance, which can be related to a

different overlap of the tip and sample wave

functions at different tip-sample distances.

Theoretical STM simulations based on a Green’s

function formalism reveal that the observed drastic

enhancement of the contrast as well as the contrast

reversal in the topography images can be explained

by the Cl-termination of the STM tip apex.

NaCl layers are grown using vapor deposition at

800 K in the preparation chamber of the STM setup

(Omicron Nanotechnology) in ultra-high vacuum

(UHV). Monolayer and bilayer NaCl(100) islands

are formed when, during the NaCl deposition, the

Au(111) substrate is kept cold or at room

temperature, respectively. Subsequent annealing of

the sample to 460 K yields trilayer NaCl(100)

islands [20]. The STM measurements are performed in UHV (10-11 mbar) and at low temperature (Tsample

= 4.5 K). Tunneling voltages are always given for

the sample, while the STM tip is virtually

grounded. All dI/dV maps are acquired with a

closed feedback loop using tunneling voltage

modulation (amplitude of 50 mV and frequency

around 800 Hz) and lock-in amplification based

detection. Image processing is performed by

Nanotec WSxM [25].

Figure 1(a) illustrates the effect of the modified

STM tip on the resolution of STM topography

images of trilayer NaCl(100) on Au(111).

Modification is controllably achieved by bringing

the tungsten STM tip into contact with the NaCl

surface via current-distance I(z) spectroscopy. It can

be seen in Fig. 1(a) that a drastic enhancement of

the resolution occurred after the I(z) spectrum was

www.theNanoResearch.com∣www.Springer.com/journal/12274 | Nano Research

3 Nano Res.

recorded near the middle of the image. The lower

part is imaged with the bare W tip and exhibits

rather poor atomic resolution, whereas in the

upper part the atomic structure of the surface can

be clearly resolved with a modified tip [see

Supplementary Material (SM) for more details]. As

evidenced below, we assign the enhancement of the

resolution to picking up a Cl ion by the STM tip

upon contact with the NaCl surface. The transfer of

the Cl ion from the surface to the tip most probably

occurs due to an increasing overlap between the

potential wells associated with Cl adsorption on tip

and sample as they approach each other [26]. For

sufficiently close distances the two wells will merge

into a single one and further retraction of the tip

under an applied bias may then favor the

attachment of the Cl to the tip apex.

Indeed, we find that a surface defect is always

created in the NaCl film after the tip modification.

However, the defect appears to extend to four

neighboring atom sites, as illustrated in Figs.

1(b)-(d). Remarkably, the appearance of the defect

changes drastically after the STM tip has lost its

functionalization, which can spontaneously occur

during scanning. When using a bare W tip, the

defect appears as an atomic size vacancy in the

NaCl film as can be seen in Fig. 1(e). Such vacancies

have previously been reported for the case of

NaCl(100) films on Cu(111) and they were

identified as missing Cl ions in the NaCl film, also

referred to as Cl vacancies [19]. The observed

change in the appearance of the defect indicates

that contrast reversal occurs in STM topography

images that are recorded with the modified tip

when compared to the bare W tip. This contrast

reversal implies that the modified tip images the

Cl － ions as depressions and the Na+ ions as

protrusions. Simulations of the STM topography

images (discussed below) confirm that the contrast

reversal is indeed induced by the Cl termination of

the W tip.

Figures 1(b)-(d) presents a series of STM

topography images recorded with increasing

current from 0.1 nA to 0.32 nA at a fixed negative sample voltage V = －0.8 V. It can be seen that the

Na+ ions appear larger with increasing current and

that at the same time the image contrast decreases.

The corrugations are 45 pm in Fig. 1 (b), 42 pm in

Fig. 1 (c) and 35 pm in Fig. 1 (d), where the main

contribution to the corrugation stems from the

Au(111) herringbone reconstruction.

Figure 1. (a) 6.3×6.3 nm2 STM topography image illustrating the influence of the tip modification on the imaging resolution, which

is drastically enhanced after bringing the STM tip into contact with the NaCl surface (V = －1.0 V, I = 0.2 nA). (b)-(d) 8×8 nm2

STM topography image recorded with a modified tip at the same tunneling voltage of －0.8 V, and with different current of 0.1 nA, 0.2 nA, and 0.32 nA, respectively. The surface exhibits a defect that can be assigned to a single Cl vacancy. The color bar indicates

the z amplitudes of 46 pm, 42 pm and 35 pm for the topography images in (b)-(d), respectively. (e) 3.4×3.4 nm2 STM topography

image of two Cl vacancies (indicated by the black arrows) recorded at V = －0.8 V and I = 0.16 nA using a bare W tip. (f)-(h)

Corresponding 8×8 nm2 dI/dV maps of (b)-(d).


4 Nano Res.

To confirm that the modified tip is terminated by

a Cl atom and to gain further insight into the

mechanism of the contrast reversal in topography

images, we carried out simulations of the STM

topography with a Green's function based

formalism that treats the tip on the same footing as

the sample surface, thus allowing to investigate the

effect of different tip terminations. We considered

two differently oriented bare W tips [W(110) and

W(111)], two Cl-functionalized tips of which one

oriented along the W(110) direction [denoted as

W(110)-Cl] and the other one along the (111)

direction of a hypothetical W fcc phase [denoted as

W(111)-Cl] [27], as well as a Na-terminated tip

[W(110)-Na]. The surface was modeled as a

NaCl(100) trilayer on top of the Au(111) surface. As

depicted in Fig. 2(a), to describe the surface we

employed a large c(10×10) NaCl(100) trilayer

commensurate with a 11 3

3 11

Au(111)

supercell after slightly distorting the Au lattice. All

simulations were performed with the GREEN

package [28, 29], using the extended Hückel theory

(EHT) [30, 31] to describe the electronic structure of

both the sample and tip (details of the calculation

parameters as well as the resulting Au and NaCl

electronic structures are given in the SM).

Figures 2(b)-(d) present topography images simulated at V = －0.8 V using different tip models

as described above. The bare W [W(110) and

W(111)] tips [see Fig. 2(b) and Fig. S10 in the SM,

respectively] and the Na-terminated tip (see Fig.

S11 in the SM) result in a weaker corrugation with

maxima at the Cl atoms for different tunneling

current. On the other hand, the W(110)-Cl [Fig. 2(c)]

and W(111)-Cl tips [Fig. S13(b)] result in well

resolved bumps on top of the Na atoms at

relatively low currents. Moreover, the W(110)-Cl

tip resolves both species for particular tunneling

parameters [Fig. 2(d)]; however, decreasing the

tip-sample distance (i.e., using larger currents)

shifts the maxima to the Cl atoms, while increasing

the tip-sample distance yields the maxima on the

Na atoms [Fig. 2(c)]. Note that in Fig. 2(d) there is a

clear symmetry breaking with respect to the

expected pmm one (after combining the 4-fold

symmetry of the NaCl and the pmm symmetry of

the tip), which is induced by the underlying Au

substrate. Such asymmetric features only become

visible at tunneling gap resistances where both

species are resolved and for this particular tip [see,

for instance, Fig. S13(b) where the 3-fold W(111)-Cl

tip yields highly symmetric images]. Also note that

although the large size of the supercell used to

model the surface may account to some extent for

the incommensurability between the square

NaCl(100) and hexagonal Au(111) lattices, it is still

too small to accommodate the Au(111) herringbone

reconstruction [32], which causes large-scale

modulations in the images (see for instance the

variations between fcc and hcp regions of the

Au(111) surface in Figs. S3 and S4 and the

corresponding discussion in the SM). We therefore

restrict the theoretical analysis below to the

explanation of the origin of the contrast reversal

induced by the adsorbed Cl in the topographic

images since this effect can be clearly seen in all

regions of the sample.

5 Nano Res.

Figure 2. (a) Top view of the trilayer NaCl(100) on Au(111) model used in the simulation. Simulated STM topography at V =

－0.8 V, (b) using a bare W(110) tip image at I = 0.1 nA, (c) and (d) using a Cl-terminated W(110) tip at I = 0.02 nA (log10I ≈－1.7)

and I = 0.1 nA (log10I = －1.0), respectively . The dark green and blue circles represent Cl atoms and Na atoms, respectively. (e) I(z)

curves calculated at V = －0.8 V for the bare W(110) (dashed lines) and W(110)-Cl (solid lines) tips placed on top of a Na atom

(blue) and on top of a Cl atom (green), respectively. The points are calculated while the lines are only a guide to the eye.

Figure 2(e) presents simulated I(z) curves for a

bare W(110) tip and a W(110)-Cl tip with the tip

apex placed above a Na and above a Cl atom,

respectively. The simulated I(z) curves for a

W(111)-Cl tip are similar to those for the W(110)-Cl

tip [see Fig. S13(a) in the SM]. For the bare tip

(dashed lines), the current decays faster with the

tip-sample distance z above a Cl atom than above a

Na atom, but is always larger above a Cl atom. For

the Cl-functionalized tip (solid lines), a larger slope of the I(z) curve is found above a Cl atom but only

at smaller tip-sample distances. At z ≈ 4.2 Å

(corresponding to I ≈ 0.1 nA) the currents above a

Na atom and above a Cl atom become equal and a

contrast reversal occurs as the tip is further

retracted. For z > 4.2 Å Na should then be revealed

in the topography image. Below the contrast

reversal point [i.e. the point where the I(z) curves

above the Na and above the Cl cross], the contrast

between Na and Cl first rather rapidly increases

with decreasing current, which is consistent with

our experimental observations [Figs. 1(b)-(d)],

indicating that the tunneling conditions for Figs.

1(b)-(d) are close to the contrast reversal point.

However, when further decreasing the current, i.e.

at large tip-sample distances, the contrast will start

to gradually decrease with decreasing current and the I(z) curves above the Na and above the Cl will

ultimately coincide as expected for z >> 4.2 Å . This

decrease of contrast with decreasing current for

low currents is experimentally confirmed in Figs.

S3(a) and (b) in the SM, which indicates that the

tunneling conditions in that case are considerably

below the contrast reversal point. The trends

described above are the same for a W(111)-Cl tip (see I(z) curves in Fig. S13 in the SM).

For positive voltages, the behavior of the I(z)

curves is similar to the behavior observed at

negative voltages. On the other hand, the exact

point of contrast reversal is different. Figure S5(a)

in the SM reveals that the contrast in experimental

topography images increases with increasing

current at a fixed positive voltage, which is

corroborated by the simulations (see Fig. S12 in the

SM). All these results consistently explain the

experimental findings and confirm that the

functionalized tips indeed are terminated by a Cl

atom.

A decomposition of the simulated current into

tunneling paths (data not shown) reveals that the

major contributions to the current always involve the pz orbitals of the Na or Cl atoms at the surface.


6 Nano Res.

However, as illustrated in Fig. S8(a) and Table S1 in

the SM, there is a large difference in the level of

localization of these orbitals between both elements,

with those of Na much more extended than the Cl

ones. Hence, the current decays faster at the Cl sites (i.e., larger I(z) slope) than at the Na sites. For the

Cl-terminated tip, the p-orbitals of the Cl apex

dominate the tunneling current for our

experimental measurement conditions (tunneling

voltage and current range), while other states,

including the W d-orbitals, only have a minor

contribution to the tunneling current. In case the

terminated Cl tip is positioned above a Cl atom, the overlap between its highly localized pz orbitals

decays so fast when z > 4.2 Å that the signal

becomes smaller than at a Na site [Fig. 2(e)] and

contributions from the more extended pz orbitals of

the neighboring Na atoms start to dominate the

current. This explains both the contrast reversal and the similar I(z) slopes at the Na and Cl sites

found at large tip-sample distances for the Cl-

terminated tips. A similar analysis for the

W(111)-Cl tip leads to the same conclusions. On the

other hand, for the bare tungsten tip, taking the

W(110) tip for example, the contribution of the

different states to the tunneling current depends on

the precise location of the tip above the NaCl

surface. When the W tip is located on top of a Cl

atom of the NaCl surface, the main contributions from the W tip are W-dx2-y2 (60%), W-pz (27%), and

W-s (10%), which all interact with the pz orbital of

the Cl atoms of the NaCl surface. However, when

the tip is located on top of the Na atoms of the

NaCl surface, we find a complex interplay between

the different tip and Na states. The largest contributions to the tunneling current are W-s→

Na-pz (24%) and W-pz→Na-s (15%). The remaining

60% contribution comes from a complex

interference interplay between many different

paths. Overall, the decay of the overlap between

the Cl and W states with z is not sufficiently large

to induce a contrast reversal even at the largest z

values, in accordance with the experiments. We

mention that apart from the pure electronic effects

presented above, dynamical force sensor effects [33]

may also play a role in the contrast reversal,

although their influence should become more

pronounced at small tip-sample distances.

We now turn to our experimentally measured

constant-current dI/dV maps. While we achieved a

good agreement between the measured and the

simulated STM topography images for the high

spatial resolution as well as for the contrast reversal, the constant-current dI/dV maps, which are

conveniently recorded simultaneously with the

topography images, present an additional

remarkable characteristic of the modified tip that

will be illustrated and discussed below. We would

like to stress that for the constant-current dI/dV

maps we do not aim at any comparison with

simulated maps. First of all, full DFT based

calculations of the local density of states (LDOS)

probed by a Cl-terminated tip cannot be performed at this point. Also, dI/dV maps acquired under

constant-height or open-feedback-loop conditions

are more appropriate for comparing theory and

experiment when focusing on the LDOS [34]. On

the other hand, for the constant-height or

open-feedback-loop conditions, our Cl-terminated

tips do not survive for a sufficiently long time to

perform a systematic study of the influence of the

tunneling parameters on the spatial resolution. The

spatial resolution for open-feedback-loop

conditions turns out to be prone to fluctuations for

detailed measurements that require longer

measuring times.

Figures 1(f)-(h) present a series of dI/dV maps

recorded at the location corresponding to the STM topography images of Figs. 1(b)-(d). The dI/dV

maps are recorded at the same tunneling voltage of

－0.8 V, but with different settings of the tunneling

current. While in the corresponding STM

topography images [Figs. 1(b)-(d)] only Na atoms

are resolved as protrusions, independent of the tunneling current, in the dI/dV maps the

appearance of the atoms depends strongly on the

tunneling current, as illustrated in Figs. 1(f)-(h).

Upon more careful comparison, it can be seen that the drastic changes in the constant-current dI/dV

maps show a clear correlation with the more subtle

contrast changes observed in the corresponding

topography images. Remarkably, it can be seen that the brightest dI/dV features evolve from one atomic

species (Na or Cl) to the other when changing the

tunneling current. At lower current each Na atom

appears as a ring-like feature in the dI/dV maps

[Fig. 1(f)]. With increasing current, the diameter of

the rings gradually increases [Fig. 1(g)] and the

neighboring rings start to overlap until, at

sufficiently high currents, the rings can no longer


7 Nano Res.

be resolved and the highest dI/dV signal is found

on the other atomic species, i.e., Cl [Fig. 1(h)].

Increasing/decreasing the current at a constant

voltage [Figs. 1(f)-(h)] in fact decreases/increases

the tip-sample distance. The above results therefore

indicate that the appearance of the atoms in the

dI/dV maps recorded with the modified tip

depends mainly on the height of the STM tip above

the NaCl surface or, equivalently, on the tunneling

gap resistance. In particular, a contrast reversal in

the dI/dV maps is found to occur at a specific

tip-sample distance which in general varies from

tip to tip due to changes in the apex geometries

and/or the Cl adsorption sites. These trends in the dI/dV maps are the same for positive and negative

sample voltages and in fact allow to identify if one

is close to or far away from the contrast reversal

point. At larger tip-sample distances (well below

the contrast reversal point) Na is revealed as a dot

[Figs. 1(f) and Fig. S3(d)], while at smaller

tip-sample distances (near the contrast reversal

point) it is revealed as a ring [Figs. 1(g)]. When

approaching the tip further towards the NaCl

surface (very close to the contrast reversal point),

the ring-like features overlap and form a dot on the

Cl sites [Fig. 1(h)].

Notably, the enhanced resolution and the

reversal processes do not depend on the sign of the

applied voltage, since similar results are obtained

under positive biases (Fig. S5 in the SM). Regarding

the film thickness, bilayer NaCl presents the same

behavior (Fig. S6 in the SM), while for monolayer

NaCl we only observe the enhancement in the

topography images after the tip modification [35],

but no ring structures in the dI/dV maps. We assign

this absence to larger tip-sample distances when

measuring with similar tunneling setpoints, since

the monolayer film presents a much smaller

electrical resistance than the bi- and trilayer films. Bare W tips, on the other hand, yield dI/dV maps

with no or only very weak atomic resolutions (see

Fig. S7 in SM), and hence a detailed comparison of

the bias/current dependence with the modified tip

is not feasible.

Occasionally, the modified tip is able to

simultaneously image both the Na atoms and the Cl atoms in the dI/dV maps (Fig. S3 in the SM) as

well as in the topography images (Fig. S4).

Although the resolution obtained with the

modified STM tips varies somewhat from tip to tip

(see Fig. 1 and also Figs. S2-S4 in the SM), the main

features are consistent: Na atoms are observed as

ring-like features in the dI/dV maps with their

diameter depending on the tip-sample distance.

In summary, tungsten STM tips were chemically

modified on ultrathin NaCl(100) films, resulting in

Cl-functionalized tips that are used to demonstrate

atomic resolution imaging of NaCl(100) islands on

Au(111). It was demonstrated that the modified

STM tips enhance and reverse the contrast in STM

topography images compared to a bare metal STM

tip. Simulated STM images, which take into

account the specific termination of the tip apex,

demonstrate that the modified STM tips are indeed

functionalized by a Cl atom. Cl-functionalized tips

can be used for systematic high-resolution

investigations of adsorbates, such as adatoms,

molecules, and nanoclusters, on thin NaCl

insulating films. The reported approach may be

generalized to other thin films or

semiconductor/oxide surfaces. We believe the key

issue is to have an electronegative atom exposed at

the surface. This should not necessarily be Cl as

used in this study, but S or P also should improve

the resolution. On the other hand, lighter

electronegative elements such as oxygen or carbon

present too highly localized orbitals and thus

require smaller tip-sample distances in order to

achieve the contrast reversal. In such regime,

however, dynamical tip-sample interactions may

become predominant and the interpretation of the

data becomes less straightforward.

Acknowledgements

The research in Leuven has been supported by the

Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO, Belgium)

and the Flemish Concerted Action research

program (BOF KU Leuven, GOA/14/007). Z. L.

thanks the China Scholarship Council for financial

support (No. 2011624021). K. S. and V. I. are

postdoctoral researchers of the FWO. J. C.

acknowledges financial support from the Spanish

Ministry of Innovation and Science under contract

NOs. MAT2010-18432 and MAT2013-47878-C2-R.

Electronic Supplementary Material:

Supplementary Material (more details of the STM

experiments and simulations) is available in the

online version of this article at


8 Nano Res.

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1 Nano Res.

Electronic Supplementary Material



Zhe Li, Koen Schouteden, Violeta Iancu, Ewald Janssens, Peter Lievens, Chris Van Haesendonck ( )

Jorge I. Cerdá ( )

Content:

1. Description of the STM tip functionalization on NaCl(100)/Au(111) films

2. Topography and dI/dV maps using a functionalized STM tip

3. Topography and dI/dV maps using a bare W STM tip

4. Methodological details of the extended Hückel theory and band structure calculations

5. Simulated STM topography images of NaCl(100)/Au(111) using a bare W(111) tip, a Na-terminated

W(110) tip, and a Cl-terminated W(111) tip

Address correspondence to Chris Van Haesendonck, [email protected]; Jorge I. Cerdá, [email protected]


2 Nano Res.

1. STM tip functionalization on NaCl(100)/Au(111) films

The termination of the tungsten tip is controllably modified by bringing the tip into contact with the

NaCl surface via current-distance I(z) spectroscopy. Typically, the tip is approached by 0.2 − 0.5 nm

depending on the tip and measurement settings. As can be seen in the scanning tunneling microscopy

(STM) topography image of trilayer NaCl(100) on Au(111) before [Fig. S1(a)] and after Fourier filtering [Fig.

S1(b)], there occurs a drastic enhancement of the resolution near the middle of the image where an I(z)

spectrum was recorded [Fig. S1(c)]. The lower part is imaged with the bare W tip and reveals only a very

weak atomic resolution, while after tip modification the atomic structure of the surface can be much more

clearly resolved in the upper part. The drastic improvement of the resolution (i.e., the measured

corrugation becomes much more pronounced) can also be seen in the height profile in Fig. S1(d).

Figure S1. (a) 6.3×6.3 nm2 STM topography image of trilayer NaCl(100) on Au(111) (V = －1 V, I = 0.2 nA). The resolution

becomes drastically enhanced after bringing the STM tip into contact with the NaCl surface. (b) Same as (a) after Fourier fil tering.

(c) A typical I(z) spectrum recorded during the tip modification. Note that the current became saturated around z = －0.18 nm due

to the limitations of the control electronics. (d) Height profiles taken along the arrows in (a).

Upon more careful inspection of Fig. S1(b), one can observe a “shift” of the atomic rows before and after

tip modification. The dotted line is located in between two atomic rows in the lower part of the image,

while it becomes located on an atomic row in the upper part of the image. This indicates that “contrast

reversal” has occurred, which can be related to picking up a Cl atom with the tip during contact with the

NaCl surface. Since a bare W tip only resolves the Cl atoms as protrusions in STM topography images [1],

the contrast reversal implies that the modified tip images the Cl locations as depressions and the Na


3 Nano Res.

locations as protrusions.

2. Topography and dI/dV maps using a functionalized STM tip

Figure S2 presents a series of STM images of trilayer NaCl(100) on Au(111) recorded with a modified

STM tip. For these images the ratio between the tunneling voltage and the tunneling current is kept

constant, which implies that the tip-sample distance is (approximately) the same for the presented images.

The STM topography images are similar at the settings used here, as illustrated in Fig. S2(a). In the different

dI/dV maps the Na atoms are observed as ring-like features, except at the highest voltages [Figs. S2(h) and

(i)]. This can be explained by taking into account the surface projected band structure, i.e., there is a higher

contribution of the electrons above the onset of the Au(111) surface state and the trilayer NaCl(100)/Au(111)

interface state around －0.5 V and －0.2 V, respectively. The tip-sample distances are therefore more or less

the same for Figs. S2(b)-(f) and the dI/dV maps have a similar resolution. Below the onset of the

surface/interface state, the STM tip has to be located closer to the surface in order to keep the tunneling

current constant and, as a result, the highest dI/dV signal is probed on the other atomic species (Cl) [Fig.

S2(h) and Fig. S2(i)]. This further confirms that the tip-sample distance is the main parameter that

determines the observed resolution in the dI/dV maps.

Figure S2. (a) 8×8 nm2 STM topography image of trilayer NaCl(100) on Au(111). The three defects in the NaCl film can be

assigned to Cl vacancies. Corresponding dI/dV maps at (b) －0.1 V, 0.04 nA (c) －0.2 V, 0.08 nA [the inset in (c) is a close-up

view of the region enclosed by the black square], (d) －0.3 V, 0.12 nA, (e) －0.4 V, 0.16 nA, (f) －0.5 V, 0.2 nA, (g) －0.6 V,

0.24 nA, (h) －0.8 V, 0.32 nA, (i) －1.0 V, 0.4 nA.

Remarkably, it can be seen in Fig. S2(c) that both the atomic Na and Cl species are resolved as bright

protrusions and ring-like features on the entire surface at －0.2 V, while for the dI/dV map in Fig. S2(d),

which is obtained at －0.3 V, both atomic species are resolved only on the hcp regions. This is illustrated in

more detail in Fig. S3. At －0.4 V, by lowering the tunneling current, i.e., from 0.16 nA [Fig. S2(e)] to 0.06


4 Nano Res.

nA [Fig. S3(d)] or 0.08 nA [Fig. S3(c)], we can also resolve both species in the dI/dV map. At 0.16 nA only Na

is imaged [Fig. S2(e)]. Upon lowering the current to 0.08 nA both atomic species are resolved on the hcp

regions, while only Na is resolved on the fcc regions and the herringbone ridges [Fig. S3(c)]. This

observation is similar to previously reported results on bilayer NaCl using a functionalized STM tip (of

which the precise termination was uncertain at the time), where it was demonstrated that the different

atomic resolution on hcp and fcc regions is related to local differences of the electronic properties in these

regions [2]. Following our present findings, local differences of the tip-sample distance resulting from the

local differences of the electronic properties may explain as well the different atomic resolution on hcp and

fcc regions reported in Ref. [2]. Upon further reducing the current to 0.06 nA, both atomic species are

resolved everywhere on the surface [Fig. S3(d)].

Figures S3(a) and (b) show that the contrast in the topography images decreases with decreasing current,

which indicates that the tunneling conditions for Fig. S3(a) and (b) are far from the contrast reversal point

[where the I(z) curves above the Na and above the Cl cross as illustrated in Fig. 2(e)].

hcp

hcp

hcp

hcp

(a)

(d)

(b)

(c)

fccfcc

Figure S3. 8×8 nm2 STM images of trilayer NaCl(100) on Au(111) with a functionalized tip. (a) Topography image and (c)

corresponding dI/dV map recorded at V = －0.4 V and I = 0.08 nA. (b) Topography image and (d) corresponding dI/dV map

recorded at V = －0.4 V and I = 0.06 nA. Insets in (c) and (d) are the Fourier transform images of the dI/dV maps.

As described above, the functionalized tips reveal only one species (Na atoms) in the STM topography

images. However, occasionally the modified tip is able to simultaneously image both the Na atoms and the

Cl atoms in the topography images. This is illustrated in Figs. S4(a)-(d) at different voltages, which are

recorded with another (different from the tips used for Figs. S1-S3) modified tip. One species is observed as

a small dot, while the other species is observed as a larger sphere. At voltages below －0.8 V, the two

species are clearly resolved, while at voltages above －0.6 V the dot-like atoms tend to fade away. In the

corresponding dI/dV maps presented in Figs. S4(e)-(h) small dot-like atoms are resolved as ring-like

features. As discussed in the main text the Na atoms in the dI/dV maps have a ring-like feature, while the

small dot and the large sphere resolved in the topography images in Figs. S4(a)-(d) can be assigned to be

Na atoms and Cl atoms, respectively.


5 Nano Res.

c da b

e f g h

Figure S4. 6.3×6.3 nm2 STM images of trilayer NaCl(100) on Au(111) (I = 0.2 nA). (a)-(d) Topography images recorded at V = －

1.0 V, －0.8 V, －0.6 V, －0.4 V, respectively. (e)-(h) Corresponding dI/dV maps of (a)-(d).

Figure S5 shows the current dependent (at fixed voltage) and voltage dependent (at fixed current) dI/dV

maps for trilayer NaCl at positive sample voltages. Similar to the images at negative bias, the appearance of

the ring-like dI/dV maps is also dependent on the tip-sample distance.

In addition, the topography image [Fig. S5(a)] illustrates that Na sites appear as protrusions and the

contrast decreases for decreasing current, which is well supported by our simulations presented in Fig. S12

below. This implies that the tunneling conditions for Fig. S5(a) are far from the contrast reversal point, i.e.,

in the region below the horizontal dashed line in the I(z) curve in Fig. S12.

Figure S5. STM images of trilayer NaCl(100) on Au(111). (a) Topography image and (b) the corresponding dI/dV map recorded at

different currents at a fixed tunneling voltage of +1 V; (c) Topography image and (d) the corresponding dI/dV map at a fixed

tunneling current of 0.07 nA.


6 Nano Res.

For bilayer NaCl, the STM images (see Fig. S6 below) are similar to the trilayer NaCl, whereas the current

settings are typically higher than those used for trilayer NaCl.

Figure S6. 3.2×2.7 nm2 (a) and (b) STM topography images of bilayer NaCl(100) on Au(111); (c) and (d) corresponding dI/dV

maps.

3. Topography and dI/dV maps using a bare W STM tip

Figure S7. 6×6 nm2 (a) and (b) STM topography images of trilayer NaCl(100) on Au(111); (c) and (d) the corresponding dI/dV

maps obtained using a bare W tip.


7 Nano Res.

4. Methodological details of the extended Hückel theory and band structure calculations

All the theoretical results shown in this work, including the Hamiltonian parameterization, the electronic

structure of the semi-infinite surfaces and the STM topographic simulations, have been performed with the

GREEN package [3-5]. Since use of a large unit cell size is required to properly match the NaCl(100) trilayer

to the Au(111) substrate, ab initio calculations are computationally highly demanding. Therefore, we relied

on the simplified extended Hückel theory (EHT) which, if correctly parameterized, can accurately

reproduce the electronic structure of the system [6] while its adequacy for the calculation of the tunneling

currents has been long recognized [7]. Here, to describe the Au and W tip atoms we employed the spd basis

already parameterized from their respective bulk phases [6]. For both the Na and Cl atoms we defined a sp

basis and fitted their corresponding EHT parameters to reproduce the band structure of bulk NaCl as

calculated from density functional theory (DFT) under the generalized gradient approximation (GGA).

Prior to the fit, and in order to reproduce the experimental NaCl band gap of 9 eV, the conduction bands

were shifted by 4 eV (DFT yields an underestimated gap value of 5 eV). Bands above 14 eV with respect to

the Fermi level (fixed here to －10 eV [6]) were excluded from the fits. The EHT constant was set to kEHT =

2.3 for all interactions.

Figure S8. Comparison between the DFT-GGA and EHT derived electronic structure of bulk NaCl. (a) DOS(E) projected onto the s

and p orbitals of Na and Cl, and (b) the bulk band structure along high symmetry lines. Bands above E = 14 eV (upper horizontal

line) are not included for fitting the EHT parameters.

In Fig. S8 the GGA and EHT derived band structures and density of states (DOS) projected on each

species are compared, with the optimized EHT parameters given in Table S1. The DOS plots show well

defined peaks for the Cl states in the lower energy region (occupied states) while those of Na present a

larger dispersion above the Fermi level (empty states). As reflected from the Slater orbital exponents given

in Table S1, the larger dispersion of the Na bands implies a larger extension of the Na atomic orbitals (AOs),

while those of Cl are more localized. This may be rationalized by recalling that the Cl AOs contract as the

valence shell becomes filled, while the opposite holds for Na.

Table S1. Optimized EHT parameters (on-site energy E, Slater exponents ζ1 and ζ2, and the coefficient c1 for the former) for Na and


8 Nano Res.

Cl obtained from the fits shown in Fig. S8. See Ref. [5] for further details.

Element AO (nl) E (eV) ζ1 (bohr -1) c1 ζ2 (bohr -1)

Na 3s －4.420 1.09861 0.83506

3p －3.668 0.84913 0.81922 3.66857

Cl 3s －24.529 2.76215 0.83813

3p －12.964 1.91016 0.87033

In order to address the accuracy of the EHT for the combined trilayer NaCl(100)/Au(111) system, we

present in Fig. S9(a) the k-resolved DOS projected on the NaCl trilayer calculated assuming a semi-infinite

geometry. For comparison, we present in Fig. S9(b) equivalent DOS projected on the first Au layer of the

clean Au(111) surface calculated for the same supercell. Despite the backfolding effect, the highly

dispersive Au surface bands can be clearly resolved in the NaCl film and should therefore be accessible to

the STM tip. Due to the adsorption of the NaCl trilayer, the Au surface bands are shifted by about 0.2 eV,

leading to surface band onsets at －0.2, －0.4, and －0.6 eV below the Fermi level, in nice agreement with

the experiment and previous calculations using the “embedding method” [2].

Figure S9. k-resolved DOS(E) graph projected on (a) the trilayer NaCl(100) on the Au(111) substrate and (b) the first atomic layer

on a clean Au(111) surface. Both graphs are obtained for the large supercell depicted in Fig. 2(a) and assuming a semi-infinite

geometry. The energies are given in eV. The surface BZ and the high-symmetry points are indicated in the sketch on the right.

For the STM simulations, we first computed the scattering states at the sample surface and the tip

independently assuming a semi-infinite geometry for both blocks [3, 4]. Next, given a relative tip-sample

position, the tip and surface scattering states are coupled up to first order to calculate the elastic

transmission coefficient. The current I is then obtained after integrating over the energy window fixed by

the bias voltage V. For the topographic maps the unit cell is divided into a grid with 0.4×0.4 Å 2 size

elements and the tip-sample normal distance, z, is adjusted at each pixel until the desired current value I is

reached. A (8×8) k-supercell was employed to sample the surface Brillouin zone (BZ), comprising over 7100

k-points of the Au(111) BZ, while the energy resolution and imaginary part of the energy entering the

Green's functions was fixed to 20 meV.

It should be noted that despite current image tunneling spectroscopy (CITS) maps were simulated for


9 Nano Res.

different tips and tunneling parameters, the ring structure around the Na atoms was not reproduced (data

not shown). At present, we are not certain about the reason for the lack of agreement with the experimental

dI/dV maps, which may be due to "special" tips or inaccuracies in the EHT.

5. Simulated STM topography images of NaCl(100)/Au(111) using a bare W(111) tip, a Na-terminated

W(110) tip, and a Cl-terminated W(111) tip

We performed STM simulations of NaCl films on Au(111) using a bare W(111) tip and found that it yields

a very similar resolution in STM topography images as a bare W(110) tip, i.e., without the contrast reversal,

which is only observed after functionalizing the tip with Cl. A simulated STM topography image using a

bare W(111) tip is presented in Fig. S10.

Figure S10. Simulated STM topography image of trilayer NaCl(100) on Au(111) at V = －0.8 V, I = 0.1 nA using a bare W(111)

tip.

We also performed STM simulations of NaCl films on Au(111) using a Na-terminated W(110) tip at

different voltages. Similar to bare W tip, only Cl ions can be revealed in the topography images, as shown

in Fig. S11 below.

Figure S11. Simulated STM topography images of trilayer NaCl(100) on Au(111) using a W(110)-Na tip at I = 0.1 nA , (a) V = －

1.0 V, (b) V = －0.6 V, and (c) V = －0.2 V.

Figure S12 presents the calculated I(z) curves and simulated STM topography images at positive voltage.

The Na ions are resolved, which indicates the contrast reversal also occurs for positive bias. Moreover, the

corrugation (D) of the simulated topography, i.e., the contrast, decreases with decreasing current, which

very well agrees with the experimental observation in Fig. S5(a). This implies that the tunneling conditions

for Fig. S5(a) are in the region below the horizontal dashed line indicated in the I(z) curves in Fig. S12.


10 Nano Res.

Figure S12. I(z) curves and a series of simulated STM topography images of trilayer NaCl(100) on Au(111) using a Cl-terminated

W(111) tip and calculated at V = +0.8 V. According to the I(z) curves, in the region between the “contrast reversal point” and the

horizontal dashed line, the contrast between the Na and Cl rather rapidly increases with decreasing current, while in the region

below the horizontal dashed line the contrast gradually decreases with decreasing current. The corrugation (D) and the tunneling

settings are given in the simulated STM images.

Figure S13. (a) I(z) curves calculated at V = －0.8 V for a W(111)-Cl tip placed on top of a Na atom (blue dots) and on top of a Cl atom (green dots) for trilayer NaCl(100) on Au(111). In the region between the “contrast reversal point” and the horizontal dashed

line the contrast between the Na and Cl rather rapidly increases with decreasing current, while in the region below the horizontal

dashed line the contrast gradually decreases with decreasing current. (b) Simulated STM topography image using a bare W(111)-C l

tip at V = －0.8 V and I = 0.05 nA (log10I ≈－1.3).


11 Nano Res.

References

[1] Hebenstreit, W.; Redinger, J.; Horozova, Z.; Schmid, M.; Podloucky, R.; Varga, P. Atomic resolution by STM on ultra-thin films of alkali halides: experiment and local density calculations. Surf. Sci. 1999, 424, L321-L328.

[2] Lauwaet, K.; Schouteden, K.; Janssens, E.; Van Haesendonck, C.; Lievens, P.; Trioni, M.I.; Giordano, L.; Pacchioni, G.

Resolving all atoms of an alkali halide via nanomodulation of the thin NaCl film surface using the Au(111) reconstruction. Phys. Rev. B 2012, 85, 245440.

[3] Cerdá, J.; Van Hove, M.A.; Sautet, P.; Salmeron, M. Efficient method for the simulation of STM images. I. Generalized Green-function formalism. Phys. Rev. B 1997, 56, 15885-15899.

[4] Janta-Polczynski, B.A.; Cerda, J.I.; Ethier-Majcher, G.; Piyakis, K.; Rochefort, A. Parallel scanning tunneling microscopy imaging of low dimensional nanostructures. J Appl Phys 2008, 104, 023702-023708.

[5] http://www.icmm.csic.es/jcerda/.

[6] Cerdá, J.; Soria, F. Accurate and transferable extended Hückel-type tight-binding parameters. Phys. Rev. B 2000, 61, 7965-7971.

[7] Cerdá, J.; Yoon, A.; Van Hove, M.A.; Sautet, P.; Salmeron, M.; Somorjai, G.A. Efficient method for the simulation of STM images. II. Application to clean Rh(111) and Rh(111)+c(4×2)-2S. Phys. Rev. B 1997, 56, 15900-15918.

chemically modified stm tips for atomic ... - nano research · including magnesium oxide, sodium...

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