Abstract
We have calculated the intensity of emitted light from a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) equipped with an Ir or W tip, probing the surface of a noble metal film. In the calculation we model the tip by a sphere. To describe the electromagnetic properties of the materials we have used experimentally measured dielectric functions. In agreement with recent experimental results we find that the light intensity is considerably enhanced compared with the yield in ordinary inverse photoemission experiments. Our theory also, in reasonable agreement with the experiments, predicts characteristic peaks in the light intensity at certain photon energies (≈2.5 eV for Ag, ≈2.1 eV for Au and Cu). The enhanced spontaneous emission is the result of the coupling between the tunneling electrons and an interface plasmon mode localized to the region between the tip and the metal film. This plasmon mode is radiative due to the tip-induced loss of translational invariance along the sample surface.
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Johansson, P., Monreal, R., Apell, P. (1993). Calculation of Resonantly Enhanced Light Emission from a Scanning Tunneling Microscope. In: Pohl, D.W., Courjon, D. (eds) Near Field Optics. NATO ASI Series, vol 242. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1978-8_39
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1978-8_39
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