Inelastic interactions of tunnel electrons with surfaces

Inelastic interactions of electrons emitted from the tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) are used to desorb individual hydrogen atoms from a Ge(111) surface. It is observed that the inelastic interactions depend not only on the electron energy and the current intensity but also on the electron emission regime of the STM tip. Quite surprisingly, it is found that tunnel electrons interact inelastically much less efficiently than field emitted electrons even though the electrons are in resonance with the Ge-H unoccuppied orbital.