STM/STS measurements of two-dimensional electronic states trapped around surface defects in magnetic fields

Abstract

The local density of states (LDOS) near point defects on a surface of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) was studied at very low temperatures in magnetic fields up to 6 T. We observed localized electronic states over a distance of the magnetic length around the defects in differential tunnel conductance images at the valley energies of the Landau levels (LLs) as well as relatively extended states at the peak ones of LLs. These states appear mainly at energies above the Fermi energy corresponding to the electron LL bands. The data suggest that the quantum Hall state is realized in the quasi two dimensional electron system in HOPG. At the peak energy associated with the n = 0 (electron) and - 1 (hole) LLs characteristic of the graphite structure, a reduced LDOS around the defects is observed. The spatial distribution is almost field independent, which indicates that it represents the potential shape produced by the defects.