The modulation of a single-molecule electron source using light

 

International Conference on Condensed Matter Physics



Physical Review Letters, could pave the way for the development of better performing computers and microscopic imaging devices.


"By irradiating a sharp metallic needle with femtosecond pulses, we had previously demonstrated optical control of electron emission sites on a scale of approximately 10 nm," Hirofumi Yanagisawa, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told Phys.org. "The optical control was achieved using plasmonic effects, but it was technically difficult to miniaturize such an electron source using the same principle. We were seeking a way to miniaturize the electron source and we hit upon the idea of using a single molecule and its molecular orbitals."

Yanagisawa and his colleagues set out to realize their idea experimentally using electrons emitted from molecules on a sharp metallic needle. However, they were well-aware of the difficulties they would encounter, due to unresolved difficulties associated with the use of electron emissions from molecule-covered needles.

"For one, it was not clear whether electron emissions originate from single molecules or not, and beyond that, the interpretation of the emission patterns was not clear," Yanagisawa explained. "Although there were mysteries that we had to clarify, we thought that light-induced electron emissions from molecule-covered needles would be a new phenomenon anyway, if we could observe this, and that the phenomena would give us answers to those intractable questions."

One year after they started conducting their experiments, the researchers successfully observed light-induced changes in electron emission patterns. Understanding the physics underpinning this observed phenomenon, required an additional four years of research.

To miniaturize a site-selective electron source via the so-called plasmonic effect, researchers first need to change the shape of an electron emitter at an atomic scale, which is a highly technical and challenging task. Instead of changing the shape of the emitter, therefore, Yanagisawa and his colleagues tried to change the electronic structure (i.e., molecular orbital) of electrons passing through their single-molecule emitter.


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