TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring the third dimension in quantum confinement of surface electrons
AU - Lyu, Lu
AU - Eul, Tobias
AU - Yao, Wei
AU - Xiao, Jin
AU - Ashoush, Mostafa
AU - Abd El-Fattah, Zakaria M.
AU - Piquero-Zulaica, Ignacio
AU - Barth, Johannes V.
AU - Aeschlimann, Martin
AU - Stadtmüller, Benjamin
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
copyright © 2026 the Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. no claim to original U.S. Government Works. distributed under a creative commons Attribution noncommercial License 4.0 (cc BY-nc).
PY - 2026/6/10
Y1 - 2026/6/10
N2 - Quantum confinement of surface electrons in two-dimensional metal-organic networks offers a powerful route to engineer electronic states for quantum and spintronic technologies. Here, we demonstrate the pivotal role of vertical variations in the surface potential on the quantum confinement of surface electrons. We investigate the confinement of both Shockley surface state and image-potential state electrons with their distinct vertical electron density distributions in a Cu-T4PT network on Cu(111). We find a substantial renormalization of the band mass of the image state, whereas the Shockley state remains almost unchanged. This notable divergence arises from the distinct three-dimensional potential landscape of the Cu-T4PT network, with a strong repulsive potential at the vertical position of the molecular backbone and leaky channels beneath the Cu coordination spheres. Our findings demonstrate the essential role of vertical potential engineering in designing quantum-confined states, thereby advancing control over electronic properties and quantum phenomena at the nanoscale.
AB - Quantum confinement of surface electrons in two-dimensional metal-organic networks offers a powerful route to engineer electronic states for quantum and spintronic technologies. Here, we demonstrate the pivotal role of vertical variations in the surface potential on the quantum confinement of surface electrons. We investigate the confinement of both Shockley surface state and image-potential state electrons with their distinct vertical electron density distributions in a Cu-T4PT network on Cu(111). We find a substantial renormalization of the band mass of the image state, whereas the Shockley state remains almost unchanged. This notable divergence arises from the distinct three-dimensional potential landscape of the Cu-T4PT network, with a strong repulsive potential at the vertical position of the molecular backbone and leaky channels beneath the Cu coordination spheres. Our findings demonstrate the essential role of vertical potential engineering in designing quantum-confined states, thereby advancing control over electronic properties and quantum phenomena at the nanoscale.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105042296373
U2 - 10.1126/sciadv.aed3926
DO - 10.1126/sciadv.aed3926
M3 - Article
C2 - 42268965
AN - SCOPUS:105042296373
SN - 2375-2548
VL - 12
JO - Science Advances
JF - Science Advances
IS - 24
M1 - eaed3926
ER -