Controlled step-by-step dissociation of single iodobenzene molecules has been performed at Cu(111) step-edges using tunneling electrons from a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip at 12 K. We show that the threshold tunneling electron energies to break a single bond inside a polyatomic molecule can be determined by using I-V spectroscopy of single molecules. Electron energies of 1.5±0.1 eV a...

In the soft-wet environment of biomolecular electron transfer, it is possible that structural fluctuations could wash out medium-specific electronic effects on electron tunneling rates. We show that beyond a transition distance (2-3 A in water and 6-7 A in proteins), fluctuation contributions to the mean-squared donor-to-acceptor tunneling matrix element are likely to dominate over the average ...

The novel phenomenon of chiral tunneling in metallic single-wall carbon nanotubes is considered. It is induced by the interplay of electrostatic and pseudomagnetic effects in electron scattering in chiral nanotubes and is characterized by an oscillatory dependence of the electron transmission probability on the nanotube chiral angle and the strength of the scattering potential. The appearance o...

We study a class of Abelian quantum Hall (QH) states which are topologically unstable (T-unstable). We find that the T-unstable QH states can have a phase transition on the edge which causes a binding between electrons and reduces the number of gapless edge branches. After the binding transition, the single-electron tunneling into the edge gains a finite energy gap, and only certain multi-elect...

We exploit a plasmon mediated two-step momentum down-conversion scheme to convert low-energy tunneling electrons into propagating photons. Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) propagating along an extended gold nanowire are excited on one end by low-energy electron tunneling and are then converted to free-propagating photons at the other end. The separation of excitation and outcoupling proves tha...

Controlled chemical reaction of single trans-2-butene molecules on the Pd(110) surface was realized by dosing tunneling electrons from the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope at 4.7 K. The reaction product was identified as a 1,3-butadiene molecule by inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy. Threshold voltage for the reaction is approximately 365 mV, which coincides with the vibrational ex...

Charge transport across tunneling junctions of n-doped Ge has been investigated experimentally and theoretically. Using tunneling spectroscopy we were able to observe the density of states and the effect of the electron-electron interaction on the excitation spectrum of samples, in which hopping is the transport mechanism close to equilibrium. To analyze the data of the measurements we derive a...

Abstract— According to the rules of quantum mechanics there is a non-vanishing probability of for an electron to tunnel through a thin insulating barrier or a thin capacitor which is not possible according to the laws of classical physics. Tunneling of electron through a thin insulating barrier or tunnel junction is a random event and the magnitude of current flowing due to the tunneling of ele...

Tunneling of single electrons has been thoroughly studied both theoretically and experimentally during last ten years. By the present time the basic physics is well understood, and creation of useful single-electron devices becomes the important issue. Single-electron tunneling seems to be the most promising candidate to be used in the future integrated digital circuits with the typical size sc...