Journal
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
Volume 117, Issue 14, Pages -Publisher
AMER PHYSICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.146102
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Funding
- Volkswagen Foundation (Lichtenberg program)
- European Research Council (Advanced Grant CEMAS)
- Leverhulme Trust [F/00 025/AQ]
- University of Liverpool
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It is known that individual metal atoms on insulating ionic films can occur in several different (meta) stable charge states, which can be reversibly switched in a controlled fashion. Here we show that the diffusion of gold adatoms on NaCl thin films depends critically on their charge state. Surprisingly, the anionic species has a lower diffusion barrier than the neutral one. Furthermore, for the former we observe that the diffusion atop a bilayer of NaCl is strongly influenced by the interface between NaCl and the underlying copper substrate. This effect disappears for a trilayer of NaCl. These observations open the prospect of controlling the diffusion properties of individual metal atoms on thin insulating films.
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