Abstract
We perform extensive first-principles calculations to simulate the topographical atomic-force-microscope image of an adatom on the surface, demonstrating the feasibility of imaging not only the atoms but also the atomic orbitals. Our comparative study of tip terminations shows that two subatomic features can appear for a single adatom when it is imaged by a Si(001)-type tip having two dangling bonds on its apex, while only one feature would appear if it were imaged by a Si(111)-type tip having one dangling bond on the apex. The key condition for seeing the atomic orbitals is to bring the tip so close to the surface that the angular-dependent force dominates the tip-surface interaction.
- Received 3 December 2002
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.256101
©2003 American Physical Society