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Characterization of just one atom using synchrotron X-rays

Journal Article · · Nature (London)
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [6];  [1];  [5];  [2];  [2];  [7];  [5];  [5];  [4];  [8];  [3];  [1]
  1. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Ohio Univ., Athens, OH (United States)
  2. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
  3. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Univ. of Illinois, Chicago, IL (United States)
  4. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
  5. Ohio Univ., Athens, OH (United States)
  6. Univ. of South Florida, Tampa, FL (United States)
  7. University of Strasbourg (France)
  8. Shenzhen Univ. (China)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Since the discovery of X-rays by Roentgen in 1895, its use has been ubiquitous, from medical and environmental applications to materials sciences. X-ray characterization requires a large number of atoms and reducing the material quantity is a long-standing goal. Here we show that X-rays can be used to characterize the elemental and chemical state of just one atom. Using a specialized tip as a detector, X-ray-excited currents generated from an iron and a terbium atom coordinated to organic ligands are detected. The fingerprints of a single atom, the L2,3 and M4,5 absorption edge signals for iron and terbium, respectively, are clearly observed in the X-ray absorption spectra. The chemical states of these atoms are characterized by means of near-edge X-ray absorption signals, in which X-ray-excited resonance tunnelling (X-ERT) is dominant for the iron atom. The X-ray signal can be sensed only when the tip is located directly above the atom in extreme proximity, which confirms atomically localized detection in the tunnelling regime. Finally, our work connects synchrotron X-rays with a quantum tunnelling process and opens future X-rays experiments for simultaneous characterizations of elemental and chemical properties of materials at the ultimate single-atom limit.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
2001465
Journal Information:
Nature (London), Journal Name: Nature (London) Journal Issue: 7963 Vol. 618; ISSN 0028-0836
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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