Structural Transition in Atomic Chains Driven by Transient Doping

A reversible structural transition is observed on Si(553)-Au by scanning tunneling microscopy, triggered by electrons injected from the tip into the surface. The periodicity of atomic chains near the step edges changes from the 1 x 3 ground state to a 1 x 2 excited state with increasing tunneling current. The threshold current for this transition is reduced at lower temperatures. In conjunction with first-principles density-functional calculations it is shown that the 1 x 2 phase is created by temporary doping of the atom chains. Random telegraph fluctuations between two levels of the tunneling current provide direct access to the dynamics of the phase transition, revealing lifetimes in the millisecond range.